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PRINTING  AND  WRITING  MATERIALS 


PRINTING  AND  WRITING 
MATERIALS:  Their  Evolution 

By  ADELE   MILLICENT  SMITH 

DREXEL  INSTITUTE 

SECRETARY  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  INSTRUCTOR  IN 
PROOF-READING,  AND  AUTHOR  OF  "  PROOF-READINO 
AND  PUNCTUATION"    ::::::::;:::::::::: 


'  Ze  (fi. 


PHILADELPHIA 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 

1904 

)IIN  H)04' 


Copyright,  1900,  by 

ADfcLE  MiLLICKNT  SMITH 

All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED    AND    BOUND    BY 

Ube  "IFntetnatfonal"  ipress 

THE    JOHN    C.    WINSTON    COMPANY 

TENTH    AND    ARCH    STREETS 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 


-Z-  I'Z-^ 


PREFACE 

TN  the  preparation  of  this  handbook,  the  purpose 
has  been  to  furnish  in  succinct  form  the  leading 
facts  relating  to  the  history  of  printing,  writing 
materials,  and  of  bookbinding,  and  the  processes 
by  which  they  are  made  ready  for  general  use.  At 
present  this  information  is  usually  found  by  labor- 
ious search  through  the  pages  of  encyclopedias  and 
other  large  volimies.  While  it  is  hoped  that  enough 
of  general  interest  has  been  included  to  render  the 
book  pleasant  reading,  the  aim  has  been  also  to 
supply  a  manual  that  will  be  useful  for  purposes 
of  instruction. 

The  descriptions  of  the  methods  of  type-found- 
ing, typesetting,  newspaper  printing,  paper-mak- 
ing, bookbinding,  and  of  the  reproductive  pro- 
cesses have  been  obtained   from  the  offices  and 

(in) 


iv  PREFACE 

shops  of  companies  of  the  highest  standing,  so  that 
the  information  in  each  case  coincides  with  what 
is  actually  practised  in  the  workroom. 

The  historical  sketch  of  Bookbinding  has  been 
compiled  from  the  works  of  such  authorities  on  the 
subject  as  Joseph  Cundall,W.  SaltBrassington,S.T. 
Prideaux,  Henri  Bouchot,  and  Brander  Matthews. 

The  author  desires  to  express  her  gratitude  and 
indebtedness  to  the  following  persons  and  firms  for 
important  information  respecting  the  various  pro- 
cesses described :  Mr.  Theodore  L.  De  Vinne,  R. 
Hoe  &  Company,  Mr.  Philip  T.  Dodge,  President 
of  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company,  the  G.  B. 
Cottrell  &  Sons  Company,  of  New  York ;  the  editors 
of  The  New  York  World  and  The  New  York  Journal ; 
Mr.  Henry  Hoe,  Sole  Agent  of  Joseph  Gillott  & 
Sons,  and  Mr.  John  Winnacott,  of  New  York;  Mr. 
Talbert  Lanston,  of  the  Lanston  Monotype  Ma- 
chine Company,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Mr.  A.  B. 
Daniels,  of  the   L.   L.  Brown  Paper  Company, 


PREFACE  V 

Adams,  Massachusetts;  Mr,  H.  A.  Moses,  of  the 
Mittineague  Paper  Company,  Mittineague,  Massa- 
chusetts ;  Miss  Mary  H,  Upton,  of  London,  England ; 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Clarke,  Mr.  Frank  S.  Holby,  Mr. 
Edward  Hill  (foreman),  of  the  Avil  Printing  Com- 
pany; Mr.  J.  Howard  Avil,  of  the  Phototype  En- 
graving Company;  Mr.  J.  Shoemaker,  of  the  J.  B. 
Lippincott  Company;  Mr.  Charles  R,  Graham,  of 
the  Historical  Publishing  Company;  Mr.  A.  E. 
Whiting,  of  the  Whiting  Paper  Company ;  Mr.  P.S. 
CoUins,  Manager  of  Circulation  Bureau  of  the  Cur- 
tis Publishing  Company ;  Mr.  W.  Ross  Wilson,'Mana- 
ger  American  Type-Founders  Company;  Mr.  L.S. 
Bigelow,  General  Manager  Keystone  Type  Foundry ; 
Messrs.  Irwin  N.  Megargee  &  Company;  Messrs. 
Theodore  Leonhardt  &  Son;  the  Moore  &  White 
Company ;  and  the  editors  of  The  Evening  Bulletin 
and  the  Sunday  Press,  of  Philadelphia.  Acknowl- 
edgments are  also  made  to  Mr.  Brander  Matthews, 
the  Macmillan  Company,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons, 


vi  PREFACE 

R.  Hoe  &  Company,  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype 
Company,  the  American  Type-Founders  Company, 
the  Avil  Printing  Company,  and  the  Moore  &  White 
Company  for  plates  furnished  or  kind  permission 
to  reproduce  cuts  for  the  illustration  of  the  book. 
The  author  also  makes  grateful  acknowledgment 
to  President  James  Mac  Alister,  Professor  Ernest 

A.  Congdon,  Professor  Parke  Schoch,  Miss  Alice 

B.  Kroeger,  Miss  Harriet  L.  Mason,  Miss  AHce  M. 
Brennan,  and  Miss  Sarah  W.  Cattell,  of  the  Drexel 
Institute,  for  valuable  aid  and  suggestions  given 
during  the  progress  of  the  work. 

A.  M.  S. 


CONTENTS 

PRINTING 

Pass 

f  NTRODUCTION     3 

Chapter 

I.  Ancient  Relief  Processes   6 

Babylonia  and  Assyria 6 

Egypt 8 

Greece  and  Rome 8 

Lack  of  Suitable  Materials 12 

China  and  Japan 15 

II.  Printing  in  Europe    17 

Image  Prints 18 

Block-books    20 

III.  Invention  of  Typography    27 

John  Gutenberg 28 

John  Fust 32 

Peter  Schoeffer 33 

Loiu"ens  Janszoon  Koster 35 

Spread  of  Typography 37 

IV.  Early  Printing-Presses    40 

Aldus  Manutius 40 

Anthony  Koberger    42 

Elzevir 43 

^ Xvii) 


viii  CONTENTS 

Chaptee  Page 

Estienne 43 

Ghristopher  Plantin 44 

V.  England  and  America    47 

William  Caxton 47 

Mexico 49 

South  America 49 

United  States 49 

VI.  Type-founding 57 

"VTI.  Typesetting 65 

VIII.  History  of  the  Printing-Press    ....  72 
Early   Presses   of  Wood — Guten- 
berg— Blaeu 72 

Iron    Presses — Stanhope — Frank- 
lin —  Columbian  —  Washington  73 

Job  or  Treadle-Presses 75 

Power  Presses — Adams 77 

Cylinder  Presses 77 

Composition  Inking-Rollers    ....  82 

Curved  Plates 84 

The  Continuous  Web 85 

Hoe  Web-Perfecting  Presses  ....  86 

Presses  for  Illustrated  Work 87 

Cottrell  Presses — Miehle — Goss  . .  88 

Printing  by  Electricity 90 

Printing  by  Photography 92 


CONTENTS  ix 

Chapter  Page 

IX.  Newspaper  Printing 94 

The     Consecutive     Processes     in 

the  Printing  of  a  Newspaper  . .     94 
Output  of  the   latest  Hoe  news- 
paper press     96 

Color-Printing    97 

The  Electrotype  Multi-Color  Press     98 
The  Combination  Octuple  Multi- 
Color  Press 101 

Late  News 103 

REPRODUCTIVE    PROCESSES 

I.  Stereotyping  and  Electrotyping  . .   107 
II.  Half-Tone  and  Line  Plates 113 

WRITING    MATERIALS 

I.  Materials  Used  by  Ancient  Peoples    123 
Rocks  —  Sharp    pointed    Instru- 
ments      123 

Tablets  of  Stone— the  Stilus....   123 

Wooden  and  Leaden  Tablets 124 

Tablets  of  Clay 125 

Waxen  Tablets 125 

Bark,  Skins,  Leaves — the  Calamus, 
or  Reed,  and  Ink 127 


X  CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

II.  Papyrus 131 

History    131 

Manufacture 133 

Discoveries  of  Papyri 135 

III.  Parchment  and  Vellum 138 

History 138 

Manufacture 140 

Vegetable  Parchment 140 

IV.  Paper 142 

History 142 

Manufacture  146 

Staples 147 

Machine-made   Paper 149 

Hand-made  Paper 156 

Classes  of  Paper 159 

V.  Pens  and  Lead-Pencils 163 

Pens 163 

Quill 163 

Metal   164 

Gold 166 

Fountain  167 

Lead-Pencils 168 

VI.  Ink 171 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

BOOKBINDING 

I.  Ancient    Covers  —  Early    Bindings  181 

The  Flat  Book 183 

Monastic  Bindings 186 

Materials  Used 188 

II.  Medieval  Bindings 190 

Leather  Bindings 192 

Tooling 195 

III.  Medieval  Bindings — Modern  Bind- 

ings    200 

Mr.    Cobden-Sanderson  —  the     Doves 

Bindeiy  209 

IV.  (Commercial  Bindings 212 

V.  Forwarding 217 

Index „ 227 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FULL-PAGE   PLATES 

Opposite  page 

John  Gutenberg    Frontispiece 

Babylonian  Tablet 6 

The  Buxheim  St,  Christopher 18 

FmsT  Page  of  Biblia  Pauperum 20 

Page  of  a  Donatus 24 

Gutenberg  Taking  an  Impression 28 

Fragment  of  a  Forty-two  Line  Bible  ....  30 

Statue  of  Gutenberg  at  Strasburg 36 

©ouRT  OF  Plantin  Museum 44 

Lanston  Typesetting  Machine 68 

Mergenthaler      Typesetting       Machine 

(Linotype) 70 

Old  Wooden  Printing-Press,  1508 72 

Washington  Press 76 

Hoe    Sextuple     Newspaper    Perfecting- 

Press 86 

Selection  from  Book  of  the  Dead — Turin 

Papyrus 134 

Page  from  Manuscript  Missal — German  . .  144 
(xiii) 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page  from  the  "  Odes  of  Horace  ' ' — 
AN  Italian  Manuscript  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Century 146 

Stack  of  Supercalenders 154 

Grolier  Binding 198 

Gobden-Sanderson  Binding 210 

ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT 

Page 

Roman  Stamps 9 

Bruce  Type-Gasting  Machine 59 


PRIKTIl^G 


PRINTING  AND  WRITING  MATERIALS 


PRINTING 

PRINTING  is  commonly  understood  to  be  taking 
-*-  impressions  from  ink-covered  ty.pes  upon  pa- 
per or  some  other  smooth  substance.  This,  how- 
ever, is  typography,  which  is  but  one  form  of  the 
art.  A  definition  embracing  all  the  processes 
which  might  be  included  under  the  head  of  print- 
ing could  hardly  be  given  in  one  brief  state- 
ment. In  a  broad  sense,  jorinting  is  making 
copies  by  impression;  but  w^iat  is  generally 
known  as  this  art  is  the  taking  of  impressions 
upon  paper  or  other  substance  from  a  surface 
covered  with  ink  or  pigment. 

Printing  may  be  divided  into  four  classes: 
Typography,  or  the  art  of  making  impressions 
with  movable  types.     This  includes  printing  from 
electrotypes  and  stereotypes.  " 

Xylography    (Wood-engraving),   or  the  art  of 
taking  impressions  from  a  design  engraved  in  high 
relief  on  a  block  of  wood. 
(3) 


PRINTING 


Lithography  (Chemical  Printing),  or  the  art  by 
which  impressions  are  taken  from  a  design  made 
on  the  surface  of  a  prepared  stone,  or  sometimes 
on  zinc  or  ahiminum. 

Intaglio  Printing  (Steel-plate  and  Copperplate 
Printing),  or  the  art  of  taking  impressions  from 
a  design  cut  below  the  surface  of  a  plate  of  steel 
or  copper. 

In  putting  the  characters  or  designs  upon  the 
respective  surfaces,  three  processes  are  employed. 

In  Typography  and  Xylography,  the  characters, 
designs,  or  pictures  to  be  printed  are  in  relief. 
Ink  is  deposited  on  these  characters  or  lines, 
paper  is  placed  upon  them,  and  pressure  causes 
most  of  the  ink  to  leave  the  printing  surface  and 
adhere  to  the  paper. 

In  Lithography,  the  lines  are  on  the  surface, 
in  very  slight  relief.  A  drawing  is  made  with 
greasy  ink  on  the  surface  of  a  prepared  stone. 
The  rest  of  the  stone  is  moistened  with  water.  The 
inlc  used  for  taking  the  impression  adheres  to  the 
greasy  drawing,  but  is  repelled  by  the  water. 
Pressure  causes  the  ink  to  leave  the  stone  and  ad- 
here to  the  paper.  The  design  may  also  be  put 
upon  the  stone  by  transfer  from  another  stone 
or  from  prepared  paper,  by  engraving,  or  by 
transfer  from  a  photograph. 


PRINTING 


In  Intaglio  Printing  (Steel-plate  and  Copper- 
plate Printing),  the  lines  are  cut  below  the  sur- 
face of  a  plate  of  polished  metal.  Ink  is  deposited 
in  these  incisions,  and  any  that  is  left  upon  the 
surface  is  wiped  away  before  an  impression  is 
taken.  Paper  is  laid  upon  the  plate,  pressure 
forces  it  into  all  the  furrows,  and  a  sharp,  clean 
impression  is  obtained. 


CHAPTER    I 


ANCIENT    RELIEF    PROCESSES 


A  LTHOUGH  in  Europe  printing  from  movable 


Babylonia 
and  Assyria. 


Clay  tab- 
lets, cones, 
and  cylin- 
ders. 


A 


types  dates  from  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 


century,  the  transfer  of  form  by  impression  is 
one  of  the  oldest  of  the  arts.  In  Babylonia  and 
Ass5Tia,  letters,  pictures,  and  arbitrary  signs  were 
stamped  on  soft  clay  which  was  afterwards  baked. 
In  the  ruins  of  the  buildings  of  these  ancient 
peoples,  there  has  been  found  scarcely  a  stone 
or  a  kiln-burnt  brick  without  an  inscription  or  a 
stamp.  The  inscriptions  on  the  stone  were  prob- 
ably made  with  a  chisel,  but  those  on  the 
bricks  were  made  either  from  wooden  stamps 
cut  in  relief  or  by  the  separate  impressions  of 
some  pointed  instrument.  The  bricks  show  vari- 
ous shapes:  square  or  oblong  tablets,  cones,  and 
cylinders,  the  latter  often  of  considerable  size. 
Some  of  the  tablets  are  not  more  than  one  inch 
long;  others  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of 
Nineveh  measure  9  by  6i  inches.  The  cuneiform 
(wedge-shaped  or  arrow-headed)  characters  on 
(6) 


BABYLONIAN    I   \ 

Size  of  the  Original  (2  x ; 


1.1     \i  1  I  II    I   1   NKIF(ll:M   INSCRIPTION. 

,  inches)  ill  the  Museum  of  Drexel  Institute. 


ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES 


most  of  the  tablets  are  sharp  and  well-defined, 
but  in  some  cases  they  are  so  minute  as  to  be 
almost  illegible  without  the  aid  of  a  magnifying 
glass.  ^..iVTiole  libraries  were  formed  of  such  bricks.  Libraries. 
These  clay  books,  as  they  may  be  called,  were 
arranged  according  to  their  subjects,  numbered, 
catalogued,  and  placed  in  charge  of  librarians. 
The  libraries  were  public  property,  and  were 
intended  for  the  instruction  of  the  people.  Each 
of  the  principal  cities  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria 
possessed  a  library  of  this  kind,  of  which  the  great 
national  library  of  Assur  bani  pal  (Greek,  Sardana- 
palus),  at  Nineveh,  was  the  most  famous.  Large 
numbers  of  the  tablets  found  in  Assur  bani  pal's 
palace  have  been  placed  in  the  British  Museum. 
Fragments  of  the  catalogue  have  also  been  found, 
and  show  that  the  library  contained :  legal,  math- 
ematical, and  geographical  treatises ;  historical 
and  mythological  documents;  poetical  composi- 
tions ;  works  on  astronomy  and  astrology ;  religious 
records;  lists  of  stones,  birds,  and  beasts;  royal 
proclamations,  and  petitions  to  the  king. 

Contracts    of    marriage,    sales    and    leases    of  contract  tab- 
property,   and   other  business   transactions  were 
recorded    on    clay    tablets.     Sanction   was    indi- 
cated by  an  indentation  made  in  the  clay  with 


Egypt. 


8  ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES 

the  finger-nail-,  preceded  or  followed  by  the  men- 
tion  of  a  name.  From  the  contract  tablets,  which 
have  been  found  in  great  nimibers,  much  has  been 
learned  of  the  social  life  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
^  In  Egypt  characters  were  impressed  on  bricks, 
but  not  to  the  same  extent  as  in  Assyria.  Sev- 
eral old  wooden  stamps  have  been  discovered  in 
the  tombs  at  Thebes,  Meroe,  and  other  places. 
The  characters  on  their  faces  are  cut  in  intaglio, 
or  below  the  surface,  so  that  impressions  taken 
from  them  would  be  in  relief. 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  were  acquainted 
Rome.  -with,   the    art   of   metal-engraving.     The   Greeks 

engraved  maps  on  metal  plates  by  cutting  lines 
below  the  surface.  Impressions  on  vellum  or 
papjaais  could  have  been  taken  from  these  plates, 
but  instead  of  thus  quickly  and  easily  multiplying 
copies,  a  new  engraving  seems  to  have  been  made 
for  each  map.  Thin  stencil-plates  of  wood  were 
recommended  by  Quintilian  as  an  aid  for  boys 
in  learning  to  write.  (^Cicero  perceived  that,  with 
proper  care,  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  might  be 
so  arranged  as  to  form  an  infinite  number  of 
sentences;  but  w^e  have  no  evidence  that  he 
thought  of  combining  them  for  the  purpose  of 
printing. 


Greece  and 


ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES  9 

The  old  Romans  employed  wooden  and  metal  wooden  and 

.  -I   — ,"  .  1-   !•       mi  metal  stamps, 

stamps   With   letters   cut  m  reliei.     The  potters 

marked  their  manufactures  with  the  name  of  the 

contents  of  the  vessel  or  of  that  of  the  owner. 

They  seem  also  to  have  used  movable  types.     Some 


ftSClADQ 


EOMAN  STAMPS 

[From  Jackson] 


of  the  inscriptions  on  their  clay  lamps  were  made 
by  impressing  consecutively  the  type  of  each  let- 
ter. yBr3,ss  stamps,  with  letters  engraved  in  relief, 
have  been  frequently  found  in  Italy  and  also  in 


10  ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES 

France.  They  are  all  small  in  size  and  contain 
the  names  of  persons  only.  Several  of  these 
ancient  stamps  are  preserved  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum; two  are  of  curious  shape,  as  shown  in  the 
illustration  on  the  preceding  page,  and  have  the 
letters  cut  into  the  metal.  iJn  using  such  stamps, 
the  Romans  seem  to  have  practised,  to  some 
extent,  the  art  of  printing  with  ink.  A  stamp  in 
the  British  Museum  Collection  is  in  the  form  of 
a  plate,  about  two  inches  long  and  nearly  an 
inch  wide.  On  the  face,  engraved  in  relief,  are 
two  lines  of  capital  letters,  cut  the  reverse  way, 
as  would  now  be  necessary  for  printing.  An 
impression  taken  from  the  stamp  would  read : 


CICAECILI 
HERMIAE.    SN. 


Stamps  for       which  was  probably  the  signature  of  one  Cecilius 

signatures. 

Hermias.  Nothing  is  known  of  this  man.  He 
may  have  used  the  stamp  to  save  himself  the 
trouble  of  writing  or  to  hide  his  inability  to  write. 
The  use  of  stamps  for  affixing  signatures  con- 
tinued until  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance, 
or  the  revival  of  learning  which  succeeded  the 
dark  age.     We  read  that  the  Emperor  Justinian 


iuOti  mi]}i^in{adii.|drun^  opult  ma 
litet^unmt  brcTittuquf  noe  pitQm 
imim?.  fetlia  dlrfniottjtqui  t^oDua 
affrilat.Iemuo  uageaaiifi  i  kuitit?* 
fiuart?  uagtiJaterqut  nunra^  uota^ 
nniB^Oiuc^  riUaittatMittiqieufoim^ 
iraii  puotat  Jiiji  It  iiuijp  libri  itmrfi: 
iluO0,pH  tl|or*att||&Let^ai¥Eli& 
3fe)tdmjsi5ai|  maimMutrttiiuiiu* 
itnt  ai^u  Silia  namtqin  apim  ill09 
inTmbinuummdni^aniurubtciOt 
Topdtinui&tOtiul^ituli^itrmiutmi 
topingut  rutd^quia  in  Uitto  iulnai: 
Ka  a?  natcat  Ififtoria,  Xmm  ktpxp 
tur  famiutquan  uoo  rcguoi^  pmu  i 
ftSrii  Dmm?.C5uart?  maladfim  io  I 

FRAGMENT  OF  THE  FORTY-TWO-LINE  BIBLE,  KNOWN  ALSO  AS 
GUTENBERG'S  FIRST  BIBLE. 


ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES  11 

made  use  of  a  perforated  golden  plate  to  assist 
him  in  signing  his  name.  Theodoric,  King  of  the 
Ostrogoths,  did  the  same.  It  appears  also  that 
''the  Emperor  Charlemagne  and  the  kings  who 
were  his  immediate  successors  formed  the  strokes 
of  their  monograms  by  following  with  the  pen  all 
the  openings  cut  into  the  plate  or  tablet  laid  upon 
the  act  to  which  they  wished  to  subscribe." 

XA  method  of  making  impressions,  employed 
for  centuries  throughout  Europe,  was  that  of 
branding.  Cattle  and  also  human  beings  were 
marked  in  this  manner.  The  Romans  marked 
runaway  slaves  (fiLgitivi)  and  thieves  (jures) 
with  the  letter  F.  Under  the  famous  Statute 
of  Vagabonds,  enacted  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.  of  England  (1547-1553),  runaway  servants 
and  idle  loiterers  in  the  highways  able  to  work 
were  branded  on  the  breast  with  the  letter  V, 
and  fugitive  slaves  were  marked  on  the  cheek 
and  forehead  with  the  letter  S.  Branding  was 
also  a  mild  form  of  punishment  for  the  gypsies, 
and  in  1698  was  made  the  penalty  for  theft  and 
petty  larceny.  Cold  branding  was  afterwards 
substituted  as  a  nominal  infliction  of  the  penalty. 
^  J"his  barbarous  mode  of  punishment  was  discon- 


Brauding. 


12  ANCIENT  RELIEF  PROCESSES 

tinued  in  England  in  the  reign  of  George  III., 
and  was  finally  abolished  in  1829.  In  France,  as 
late  as  1832,  galley  slaves  were  marked  with  the 
letters  T  F  (travaux  forces).  In  Germany  brand- 
ing has  never  been  recognized  by  the  common  law. 

Except  in  the  few  cases  mentioned,  these 
ancient  peoples  seem  not  to  have  taken  impres- 
sions from  stamps  nor  to  have  multiplied  im- 
pressions from  the  same  stamp.  Had  they 
wished,  ho^vever,  to  repeat  the  same  inscrip- 
tion many  times  upon  papyrus  or  parchment, 
there  were  mechanical  difficulties  in  the  way 
.  which  would  have  rendered  their  work  in- 
different and  unsatisfactory,  and  which  explains, 
in  some  measure,  why  the  world  had  to  wait  so  long 

aWe^mate^'*    for  the  invention  of  typography.     These   nations. 

printing.  ^^eve  destitute  of  some  of  the  commonest  printing 
materials  which  to-day  are  considered  indispens- 
able. What  we  term  paper  did  not  exist,  except 
in  China,  before  the  eighth  century,  and  was  not 
manufactured  in  Europe  before  the  twelfth. 
The  papyrus  used  as  a  wTiting  surface  could 
not  be  folded  like  ordinary  rag  paper,  and 
would  probably  have  torn  apart  under  the 
action  of  a  press.     It  could  not  be  rolled  upon 


ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES  13 

itself,  in  the  same  way  as  a  sheet  of  paper,  but 
had  to  be  wound  around  a  wooden  roller.  Parch- 
ment, being  greasy,  resists  ink,  is  hard  to  han- 
dle, and  even  at  the  present  day  is  regarded  as 
an  undesirable  printing  material.  The  ancients 
lacked  also  a  suitable  ink.  Trifling  as  it  may 
seem,  this  would  have  been  one  of  the  chief  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  success,  even  had  there  been 
an  invention  of  types.  \Their  vdk  was  a  thin  wash 
made  of  soot  thickened  with  gum,  with  an  acid 
sometimes  added  to  make  it  bite  or  sinlc  below 
the  siu-face  of  the  papyriLS.  These  watery  inks 
would  have  collected  in  blotches  upon  a  smooth 
metal  plate,  and  if  stamped  upon  paper  or  parch- 
ment the  impressions  would  have  been  of  irregu- 
lar blackness  and  illegible  in  many  places.  The 
chief  ingredients  of  printing-ink  are  lampblack 
and  oil.  vJhe  early  printers  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury took  a  lesson  from  an  innovation  which 
immediately  preceded  the  invention  of  typog- 
raphy; this  was  the  mixing  of  color  with  oil,^  a 
step  which  wTought  a  revolution  in  the  art  of 
painting.     The  printers,  finding  that  they  could 


1  The  introduction  of  this  method  has  been  generally  attributed 
to  Jan  van  Eyck  of  Holland,  who  lived  during  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century;  but  it  is  believed  that  his  brother  Hubert  has  an 
equal  claim  to  the  honor  of  the  discovery. 


14  ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES 

not  use  the  ink  of  the  copyists,  mixed  their  black 
with  oil,  and  succeeded  in  giving  to  the  world 
books  which  after  more  than  four  centuries  are 
still  beautifully  legible. 

Besides  the  lack  of  suitable  materials,  the  old 
Romans  had  no  great  mechanical  skill.  Archi- 
tecture was  about  the  only  art  requiring  the 
cooperation  of  many  persons,  in  which  they 
achieved  success.  Simjrfe  labor-saving  devices,  so 
common  at  the  present  daj',  were  unknown  to 
them. 

The  civilization  of  ancient  Rome  had  no  great 
need  of  the  art.  There  were  many  scribes  and 
copyists.  These  'professional  scribes  were  edu- 
cated slaves,  whose  food  and  clothing  cost  but 
little,  and  Avho  produced  books  faster  than  they 
could  be  sold.  They  were  read  not  only  in  the 
libraries,  but  in  the  porticoes  of  houses,  at  private 
dinners,  and  at  the  baths.  Horace  complained  that 
his  books  were  too  common,  and  that  they  were 
foiuid  in  the  hands  of  vulgar  snobs  for  whom  they 
had  not  been  wi'itten.  Volumes  produced  by 
slave  labor  were,  of  course,  cheap.  Martial's 
first  book  of  epigrams,  in  plain  binding,  was  sold 
for  six  sesterces,  or  about  twenty-four  cents  of 
American  money. 


ANCIENT  BELIEF  PBOCESSES  15 

^  The  Chinese  have  practised  block-printing  for 
many  centuries.  Printing  with  ink  from  wooden 
blocks  has  been  traced  as  far  back  as  the  sixth 
century,  and  some  writers  claim  that  China  had 
a  knowledge  of  the  art  even  before  the  Christian 
era.  The  invention  of  movable  types  of  clay  was 
made  by  a  blacksmith,  Pi  Shing,  in  the  eleventh 
century.  This  method  of  printing  was  done  by 
rubbing,  but  it  did  not  supersede  block-printing. 
The  British  Museum  possesses  a  work  printed  in 
1337,  which  is  exhibited  as  the  earliest  instance 
of  a  Korean  book  printed  from  movable  types. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  substitute 
types  for  engraved  blocks,  but  this  is  difficult 
because  of  the  great  number  of  the  Chinese  char- 
acters. These  characters  do  not  stand  for  letters 
or  sounds,  but  represent  complete  words  or  ideas; 
besides  the  two  hundred  and  fourteen  radicals, 
the  characters  formed  by  combinations  have  been 
variously  estimated  from  forty  thousand  to  over 
two  hundred  thousand  in  number;  not  more  than 
fourteen  or  fifteen  thousand,  however,  are  in  regular 
use.  A  Chinese  missionary  house  employs  about 
six. thousand  characters;  for  an  ordinary  newspa- 
per, only  about  four  thousand  are  necessary;  while 
magazines  which  treat  of  a  greater  range  of  sub- 


China. 


Japan 


16  ANCIENT  BELIEF  PROCESSES 

jects  require  ten  thousand.     The  printing-offices 
arrange    the    characters  by  the  radicals. 

Movable  types,  both  of  wood  and  of  metal, 
have  long  been  employed  in  China.  Movable 
types  of  metal  were  first  cut  in  1815,  for  the 
purpose  of  printing  Morrison's  Dictionary.  Print- 
ing from  metal  types  is  practised  in  China  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  circulating  the  Bible  and  for 
newspapers. 
'^  It  is  indisputable  that  block-printing  was  first 
practised  in  China,  but  there  is  nothing  to  prove 
that  Europe  originall}^  derived  its  knowledge  of 
this  art  from  the  East. 

In  Japan  the  earliest  example  of  block-printing 
dates  from  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century. 
The  Jesuits  were  the  first  to  print  from  metal 
types  in  that  country,  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Because  of  the  avidity  with  which  the  Japanese 
have  taken  hold  of  Western  learning,  printing  is 
extensively  carried  on  in  Japan,  both  blocks  and 
types  of  metal  being  employed. 


CHAPTER   II 

PRINTING   IN    EUROPE 

TN  Europe  until  the  second  half  of  the  four- 
-■-  teenth  century,  books  of  every  kind,  letters, 
and  all  private  and  public  documents  were  written 
by  hand.  Figures  and  pictures  were  produced 
with  either  the  pen  or  the  brush. 

Before  the  invention  of  typography  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  playing-cards, 
pictures  of  saints,  and  block-books  were  printed 
from  engraved  wooden  blocks.^     , 

When   this   method   of   printing   began  to   be 
developed  in  Europe,  it  was  in  connection  with 
playing-cards.     The  work   was   extended  in  the  ^ 
production   of   image   prints    (sometimes   accom-    image  prints 

.  .  and  block- 

panied  with  a  text),  texts  of  scripture  without   books, 
pictures,  and  whole  books, — each  picture,  text,  or 
leaf  being  printed  from  one  engraved  block.      The 
latter,  called  block-books,  sometimes  consisted  only 

1  Block-printing  on  cloth  and  vellum  seems  to  have  been  practised 
as  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  and  on  paper  as  early  as  the  second 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

2  (17) 


18  PBINTINO  IN  EUROPE 

of  pictures,  sometimes  they  were  half  picture  and 
half  text,  and  occasionally  they  contained  only 
text. 

Image  prints  V  From  their  perishable  nature,  but  few  of  the 
early  image  prints  have  come  down  to  us.  With 
a  few  exceptions,  these  prints  were  colored.  They 
were  pictiu'es  of  sacred  personages,  and  were 
undoubtedly  copied  from  ilkmiinated  religious 
books  then  to  be  found  in  all  the  large  monas- 
teries. They  were  intended  for  religious  instruc- 
tion and  comfort,  and  were  bought  by  the  poor 
and  hung  on  the  walls  of  their  huts  and  cabins. 
These  prints  were  produced  as  early  as  the  four- 
teenth, perhaps  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury.    The   earliest   print   still    existing    with   a 

The  St.  definite  and  unquestioned  date  is  the  St.  Chris- 

^  ^^'  topher  of  1423.  It  is  a  rude  wood-engraving, 
about  8  by  11  inches,  and  represents  the  Saint 
carrying  the  infant  Saviour  across  a  river.  This 
print  was  discovered  by  Heinecken,  in  1769, 
pasted  inside  the  binding  of  an  old  manuscript 
volume  of  1417,  in  the  library  of  one  of  the  most 
ancient  convents  of  Germany,  the  Chartreuse  at 
Buxheim  in  Swabia.  The  manuscript  was  placed 
in  what  was  known  as  the  Spencer  library,  which 
afterwards   passed   into    the   possession   of   Mrs. 


STATUE  OF  GUTENBERr,   AT  STRASBIRG 
[From  a  rhntii,i;iapli.] 


PRINTING  IN  EUROPE  19 

Rylands,  of  Manchester,  England.^  In  the  book 
which  contained  the  St.  Christopher  was  also  found 
another  image  print,  the  Annunciation,  by  some  The  Annun- 

'^     c         }  J      J  ciation. 

thought  to  be  of  the  same  age  and  workmanship 
as  the  former.  It  is  about  the  same  size  and  is 
printed  on  the  same  land  of  paper.  Msmy  im.age 
prints,  of  course,  were  produced  before  the  St. 
Christopher,  but  this  bears  the  earliest  date  of  any 
now  in  existence.  The  Mary  Engraving,  or  the 
Bmssels  Print,  was  formerh'  thought  to  be  of  the  tl*^  Brussels 

'  '•  °  Print. 

year  1418;  but  the  date  had  evidently  been  tam- 
pered with,  and  the  authorities  now  consider  it 
to  be  1468.  This  print  was  discovered  bj^  an  inn- 
keeper, in  1848,  pasted  on  the  inside  of  an  old  chest, 
and  was  placed  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Brussels. 
Other  old  prints  are  the  St.  Bridget,  supposed 
to  be  of  nearly  the  same  age  as  the  St.  Christopher; 
the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian,  with  fourteen 
lines  of  text  and  bearing  the  date  1437,  foimd  in 
1799  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Blaise  in  the  Black 
Forest,  and  preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library 
at  Vienna;  the  St.  Nicolas  de  Tolentino,  with  the 
date  1440  written  in  by  hand;  a  print  representing 


1  This  has  been  made  a  public  library  of  research  and  reference  in 
the  city  of  Manchester,  under  the  name  of  The  John  Rylands 
Library.  It  was  formally  opened  on  October  6, 1899,  and  takes  its 
place  as  one  of  the  great  libraries  of  the  world. 


Block-boota. 


20  PRINTING  IN  EUROPE 

the  bearing  of  the  crc^ss,  St.  Dorothea   and    St. 

AlexiSjW'iih.  the  date  1443  also  written  in  by  hand. 

No  other  wood-cuts    are  known  with  dates  prior 

to  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.      A 

number  of  engravings  exist,  which,  judging  from 

the  style  of  the  workmanship,  may  have  been 

I  *  produced    somewhat    earlier,    probably    in    the 

^^    latter   part    of    the    fourteenth  or   early  in  the 

*<.    fifteenth  century. 

'^  The  block-books  were  printed  wholly  from  carved 
blocks  of  wood.  A  whole  page,  sometimes  two 
whole  pages  were  printed  from  a  single  block. 
The  block-books  are  of  two  kinds:  books  of  pic- 
tures without  text,  but  containing  words  descrip- 
tive of  the  picture  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  in  the 
corners,  or  in  scrolls  near  the  figures;  and  books 
of  pictures  containing  explanations  of  the  pictures 
in  a  full  page  of  text,  usually  printed  on  the  page 
opposite  the  picture. 
Block-books  ^f  the  first  class,  pictures  without  pages  of 
text,  the  best  known  are  the  Bihlia  Pawperum 
{Bible  of  the  Poor),  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John, 
the  Canticum  Canticorum  (The  Canticles),  and 
the  Story  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  To  the  second 
class  belong  Dcr  Endkrist  {The  Antichrist),  the 
Ars   Memorandi    {How   to    Remember   the   Evan~ 


without  text. 


1t53?*w  ftfurfi'ro .  taji'tpt 


jitttv  mn  (jTRTiKTf  ft  ?qftf 
a  ibivtm  Ifst  mr  Ix  firmm 
rrmnturripanfrret) 
fatwhuictnuntotaljftf 

wmnatMf  (ftr  luftof  510 


giarttoii^crttCeaiirai 
T5jrrriU"iiii)rury  roati' 

bat  nu-rniiF  luanmu-- 
fltoiioCfim  fiar  roirniih^ 
ouc  luipittniliiHitt  T=e 


FIRST  PAGE  OF  THE  BIBLIA  PAUPERUM. 
(THE    ANNUNCIATION.) 


PRINTING  IN  EUROPE  21 

gelists),  the  Ars  Moriendi  (How  to  Die  Becom-  Biock-books 
ingly),  the  Mirahilia  Romce  (the  Wonders  of  ^^'^^htext. 
Rome),  and  the  Dance  of  Death.  The  only  block- 
book  without  pictures,  of  which  we  have  knowl- 
edge, is  the  Donatus,  or  Boifs  Latin  Grammar. 
One  of  the  best  known  of  the  block-books  is  the 
Speculum  Humance  Salvationis  (Mirror  of  Salva- 
tion) .  This  is  of  special  interest  in  the  history  of 
typography,  as  it  occupies  a  position  midway  ^he  specu- 
between  the  block-book  proper  and  the  ordinary 
printed  book.  In  the  true  block-book,  both 
pictures  and  text  were  engraved  on  blocks  of 
wood.  In  the  four  known  editions  of  the  Speculum 
the  text  is  printed  from  movable  types,  except 
in  one  edition  which  contains  twenty  xylographic 
pages. 

It  is  not  known  just  how  many  different  block- 
books  are  now  in  existence,  but  there  are  perhaps 
nearly  one  hundred.  Sotheby,  in  1858,  described 
but  twenty-one;  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  of 
1888  enumerates  but  thirty.  It  is  probable  that 
many  have  been  lost  and  forgotten.  Although 
but  few  distinct  works  were  published,  the  editions 
were  numerous.  From  the  number  and  variety 
of  the  editions,  there  must  have  been  a  large 
demand  for  these  books.     They  were  made  both 


22  PBINTIXG  m  EUROPE 

before  and  after  the  invention  of  typography. 
They  were  issued  after  the  invention  of  movable 
types  because  of  the  cheapness  with  which  they 
could  be  produced.  Many  of  those  which  have 
come  down  to  us  are  imimportant,  others  ai'e 
of  so  late  a  date  as  to  be  of  little  interest  in  the 
history  of  printing.  An  Italian  adaptation  of  the 
Biblia  Pauperum  was  printed  at  Venice  as  late 
as  1512,  and  a  few  block-books  of  less  merit  were 
printed  after  this.  The  latest  block-book  of  any 
size  was  produced  also  at  Venice.  It  is  known 
as  the  Figure  del  Testamcnio  Vccchio  (Pictures 
from  the  Old  Testament),  printed  about  1510, 
by  Giovanni  Andrea  Vavassore.  The  separate 
issues  are  not  editions  in  our  sense  of  the  term: 
they  v.'ere  not  printed  from  one  set  of  blocks 
after  another,  as  the  sets  were  successively  worn 
out.  The  cutter  v.ho  carved  the  blocks  sold  not 
the  books  but  the  blocks  themselves,  to  private 
purchasers,  who  vveve  men  of  wealth  or  heads  of 
religious  establishments.  The  editions,  conse- 
quently do  not  always  follow  one  another;  a  short 
interval  may  have  sometim.es  elapsed  between 
two  issues;  but  when  a  work  was  popular, 
the  blocks  were  often  produced  side  by  side  by 
different  cutters. 


PRINTING  IN  EUROPE  23 

The  block-books  were  printed  on  one  side  of 
the  paper  only,  in  brown  ink.  Impressions  were 
taken  off  by  rubbing;  occasionally  two  sheets 
were  pasted  together  to  form  one  leaf.  The  paper 
was  harsh  and  uneven.  Books  printed  on  both 
sides  of  the  paper  and  in  black  ink  are  considered 
to  have  been  produced  after  the  invention  of 
typography. 

The  image  prints  were  usually  colored  after 
they  were  printed.  In  many  the  colors  were 
painted  in,  but  the  later  prints  show  that  they 
were  stenciled.  The  block-books,  also,  were  often 
painted,  or  colored  by  means  of  stencil-plates. 

Most  of  the  block-books  are  of  a  religious  char- 
acter, but  the  religion  they  teach  is,  of  course, 
dogmatic  and  doctrinal.  They  were  probably 
written  by  ecclesiastics  of  high  position  for  the 
instruction  of  ignorant  monies  and  curates  unable 
to  read.  They  gradually,  however,  found  their 
way  into  the  hands  of  the  laymen,  who  admired 
the  pictures  if  they  could  not  read  the  Latin. 
Although  written  by  ecclesiastics,  we  have  no  evi- 
dence that  these  books  were  printed  in  monas- 
teries. The  block-printers  of  a  later  day  were 
laymen,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  earlier  books 
were  also  printed  by  laymen. 


24 


PRINTING  IN  EUROPE 


Biblia  Pau- 
penun,  or 
Bible  of  the 
Poor. 


The  most  famous  of  the  block-books  was  the 
Biblia  Pauperum,  or  Bible  of  the  Poor.  This 
name  seems  to  have  been  given  to  it  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  complete  Bible  in  manuscript  which, 
of  course,  could  be  owned  only  by  the  rich.  The 
Bible  proper  of  that  day  was  in  the  form  of  two 
or  more  thick  folios  and  was  wTitten  on  fine 
vellimi.  Although  called  the  Bible  of  the  Poor, 
this  book  was  written  for  the  clergy;  the  poor  of 
the  lait}^,  however,  were  doubtless  able  to  appre- 
ciate the  pictures.  It  was  the  block-book  most 
often  reproduced,  and  was  printed  in  both  Latin 
/and  German.  The  edition  supposed  to  be  the 
first  is  in  Latin,  and  contains  neither  date,  place, 
nor  name  of  printer.  By  some  it  is  claimed  to 
have  been  jDrinted  in  Germany,  by  others  in  Hol- 
land. The  Biblia  Pauperum  consists  of  forty 
wood-engravings,  printed  on  only  one  side  of  the 
leaf.  The  prints  face  each  other,  two  pages  of 
pictures  being  followed  by  two  blank  pages.  The 
Life  and  Passion  of  Christ  are  represented,  with 
parallel  subjects  taken  from  the  Old  Testament. 

The  origin  of  the  Ars  Moriendi  is  not  known, 

ArsMoriendi,  .  r  i       •  i 

or  How  to  Die  but  it  was  a  popular  work  long  alter  the  mtroduc- 

Becomingly.        _  _    -^^  ^         ^ 

tion  of  the  printing  press.     Its  object  is  to  set  forth 
the  temptations  that  beset  both  the  good  and  the 


rioirie  tiuf  ppoto  aiijo  par 

I  tilnf  a  omtDie  (ignificanmt* 

mmtmt^Jtu  mtnmm 

aurmimiit^^epofttioiiiuorafflDfU'-' 

©aor^uif  ^dle  t  abWie.Sajipa'' 
ftftonroattlrafuoruf  aD.  apuD.  aiitr 
3tiurrfiittirt0.nrra.nrai.rirfa.fomr. 
rr3a.frtra.inrfr4iin*a.tafra;mrra  o*-* 
j)onf.pcr-jcpf  jprr  i\(it5ni.pDft.rrair0 
iiltra.pjrirr.(iipja.nrnrfr.uIi]f.frnio 
pntf  o.^uo  Dintnim  rm^  ?ID  parrnn 
^utmnaLanrrrtir6.aourrrmntnmii 
f00.na  rfiiu.ntrafam.  nrm  Mm^ 
firfatfmpIu.fpnrral>oftra.frgajpu>* 

ilii0O.ri  rra  rm1ftna0.111tfrnauf9.1n* 
trarafttta-mfrarrfru.mrrainafrilmr 

OTau0unu4)onf  mliunal.8parinnu 
'j]pr{mcftra.jj>rfriu&iplitta  ftfimfa 

PAGE    OF  A  DONATUS. 

[From  Bouchot.] 
The  original  block  is  preserved  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris. 


PRINTING  IN  EUROPE  25 

bad  in  the  hour  of  dissolution.  Angels  and 
demons  surround  the  bed  of  the  dying  person, 
and  strive  to  win  for  themselves  the  departing 
soul.  A  kind  of  dialogue  is  kept  up  between 
the  angels  and  Satan,  which  is  set  forth  in 
the  scrolls.  In  the  illustration  which  repre- 
sents the  death  of  the  rich  man,  one  devil  tells 
him  to  provide  for  his  friends,  another  calls  out 
"Pay  attention  to  your  treasures."  In  the  next 
cut,  an  angel  exhorts  him  not  to  heed  the  advice 
of  the  devils,  but  to  leave  his  property  to  the 
church.  In  the  last  picture,  the  spirit  of  the 
dying  man,  represented  by  a  manikin,  is  exhaled 
with  his  last  breath,  and  is  received  by  the  angels. 
The  book  was  apparently  written  to  prepare  man 
for  another  world,  but  its  real  purpose  was  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  church.  The  work  was 
popular  for  more  than  a  century. 

The  Donatus  is  the  only  block-book  without  pic- 
tures of  which  we  have  any  knowledge.    Its  author  or  Boy's  Lat-' 

in  Grammar. 

was  ^lius  Donatus,  a  Roman  grammarian  of  the 
fourth  century  and  one  of  the  instructors  of 
St.  Jerome.  The  block-book  was  the  grammar 
abridged,  and  is  the  only  school-book  known  to  have 
been  printed  from  blocks.  When  printed  in  the 
largest  letters,  it  contained  but  thirty-four  pages; 


26  PRINTING  IN  EUROPE 

when  put  in  small  letters  it  had  only  nine  pages. 
As  the  Donnius  was  constantly  used  in  every  pre- 
paratory school,  there  was  always  a  large  demand 
for  it.  For  so  small  a  book,  the  engraving  of  the 
blocks  would  cost  little  more  than  type  composi- 
tion, consequently,  xjdographic  editions  were  still 
produced   at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Originally,  the  Donatus  was  written  for  students 
who  spoke  Latin,  and  who,  when  the  book  was 
first  published  in  the  fourth  century,  could  easily 
read  it.  The  work  continued  to  be  used  as  late 
as  the  fifteenth  century,  because  Latin  was  the 
only  language  taught  in  the  schools.  The  use 
in  the  fifteenth  century  of  a  text-book  written  in 
the  fourth,  shows  the  little  progress  made  in  edu- 
cational methods.  From  the  forbidding  appear- 
ance of  the  book,  one  infers  that  no  effort  was 
made  to  render  the  path  of  knowledge  inviting. 

Two  original  blocks  of  the  Donatus  were  bought 
in  Germany  by  Foucault,  Minister  of  Louis  XIV., 
about  two  hundred  j^ears  ago,  and  are  preserved  in 
the  National  Library  at  Paris.  There  is  part  of 
a  Donatus  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford,  with 
a  colophon  stating  it  to  be  the  work  of  Conrad 
Dinckmut,  who  practised  printing  at  ITlm  from 
1482  to  1496.  Fragments  are  also  preserved  in 
several  of  the  great  European  libraries. 


^^ 


a 


CHAPTER  III 

INVENTION    OF    TYPOGRAPHY 


rpHE  progress  of  the  development  of  the  art  of  im- 
pressing  characters  from  engraved  designs  has 
th«8  far  been  traced  from  the  clay  bricks  of  Baby- 
lonia, Assyria,  and  Egypt  to  the  block-printing  of 
China  and  Europe.  All  the  steps  necessary  to 
give  the  world  the  art  of  typography  had  been 
taken  except  one,  and  the  people  of  Europe, 
especially  in  the  North,  were  ready  to  receive 
the  art.  Paper  had  been  manufactured  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years  and  it  was  now  in  common 
use,  although  regarded  by  the  cultured  classes  as 
a  plebeian  writing  material.  The  printers  had 
found  a  suitable  ink  for  their  work,  and  in  Ger- 
many and  the  Netherlands,  where  typography  was 
first  practised,  there  had  been  for  some  time  a 
steady  progress  in  education,  and  consequently  a 
developed  mental  activity  which  was  put  to  prac- 
tical use. 

The  final  step  needed  was  the  casting  of  movable 
metal   types.     Printing    could    never    have   been 
(27) 


28 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 


The  type- 
mould. 


John  Guten- 
berg. 


practised  on  an  extensive  scale,  if  the  idea  of 
casting  types  had  not  been  conceived.  The  key  to 
the  invention  was  the  type-mould.  The  honor  is 
due  to  the  man  who  invented  the  first  type-mould, 
for  types  which  are  cast  are  the  only  ones  that 
can  be  used  to  advantage.  There  is  no  evidence 
to  prove  that  engraved  tvooden  types  were  ever 
used  except  in  an  experimental  way.  A  fierce 
controversy  has  waged  as  to  who  first  gave  the 
world  a  knowledge  of  typography,  but  the  weight 
of  evidence  is  strongly  in  favor  of  John  Guten- 
berg, a  printer  of  Mainz. 

We  do  not  know  when  and  where  Gutenberg 
made  his  first  experiments  with  movable  types,  but 
before  1439  he  seems  to  have  been  at  work  at  Stras- 
burg,  endeavoring  to  perfect  his  art.  From  Stras- 
burg  he  went  to  Mainz,  where  his  name  appears 
in  1448,  in  a  record  of  a  legal  contract.  Here, 
about  1450,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  Jo- 
hann  Fust  or  Faust,  a  wealthy  money-lender,  who 
furnished  the  means  necessary  to  set  up  a  print- 
ing-press. In  a  few  years  (1455),  Fust  brought  a 
lawsuit  against  Gutenberg,  to  recover  the  sum  of 
money  he  had  advanced.  The  verdict  was  in 
Fust's  favor  and  the  printing-press  passed  out  of 
the  hands  of  Gutenberg.    Although  now  nearly 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY  29 


sixty  3'ears  old,  Gutenberg  did  not  despair,  but 
determined  to  found  another  office.  Some  of  his 
printing  materials  still  remained  to  him,  and  the 
clerk  of  the  town  of  Mainz  provided  him  with 
money.  He  continued  his  work  for  some  time, 
but  in  1462  all  printing  in  Mainz  was  interrupted 
for  several  years,  by  the  sacking  of  the  town 
during  the  quarrel  of  the  archbishops.  In  1465 
Gutenberg  was  made  a  courtier  by  Adolph  II., 
Count  of  Nassau.  His  death  occurred  before 
February,  1468,  but  nothing  is  known  of  the 
circumstances. 

The  earHest  specimen  of  printing  from  mov- 
able metal  types  known  to  exist  at  the  present  day 
is  the  famous  Letter  of  Indulgence,^  of  Pope 
Nicholas  V.,  to  such  persons  as  should  contribute 
money  to  help  the  King  of  Cyprus  against  the 
Turks.  A  copy  of  this  Indulgence  is  now  pre- 
served in  the  Meerman-Westreenen  Museum  at 
the  Hague.  It  bears  the  earliest  authentic  date 
on  a  document  printed  from  types, — November 
15,  1454. 


1 A  plenary  indulgence  of  three  years,  granted  by  Pope  Nicholas 
v.,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1451,  to  all  persona  who  from  May  1,  1452,  to 
May  1,  1455,  should  contribute  money  to  aid  the  King  of  Cyprus  then 
threatened  by  the  Turks. 


30 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 


Bible  of 

!Forty-two 

Lines. 


Bible  of 

Thirty-six 

Lines. 


The  work  upon  which  Gutenberg's  fame  rests, 
as  a  great  printer,  is  the  Holy  Bible  in  Latin. 
There  are  two  editions  of  this  work :  one  known  as 
the  Bible  of  Forty-two  Lines,  and  the  other  as 
the  Bible  of  Thirty-six  Lines.  The  figures  in- 
dicate the  number  of  lines  to  the  page  in  a  col- 
umn. It  is  not  known  which  was  printed  first, 
but  it  is  generally  believed  that  the  forty-two-line 
Bible  is  the  earlier.  This  is  generally  called  the 
Mazarin  Bible,  ^  because  the  copy  which  first 
attracted  notice  was  discovered  in  1760  in  the 
library  of  Cardinal  Mazarin  at  Paris;  it  is  also 
known  as  Gutenberg's  First  Bible.  It  is  believed 
that  this  Bible  could  not  have  been  begun  before 
August,  1450,  and  that  it  was  finished  in  1455,  but 
the  exact  dates  are  not  known.  The  Paris  copy 
contains  the  rubricator's  inscription,  which  shows 
that  the  work  was  completed  before  the  15th 
of  August,  1456.  The  thirty-six-line  Bible  has 
received  the  name  of  Pfister's  or  the  Bmnberg 
Bible,  because  the  type  used  in  it  was  once  owned 
by  Albrecht  Pfister  of  Bamberg.  A  copy  of  this 
Bible  was  discovered  in  1728,  in  the  library  of 
a  monasterv  near  Mainz.     A  note  found  in  the 


1  The  Earl  of  Ashburnham's  copy  of  the  Mazarin  Bible,  on  vellum, 
■was  sold  in  1897  for  £4,000,  or  about  $20,000, 


a-nftofon^cctm  Me  doaana^  liiens-j'  onllcfima  mc^ 


THE   lU'XHEIM   SAINT   THRISTOPHKR,  1423. 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY  31 

manuscript  catalogue  of  the  library  states  that 
the  Bible  was  given  to  the  monastery  by  John 
Gutenberg  and  his  associates.  The  date  1461 
is  written  on  a  copy  of  the  last  leaf  of  this  book, 
also  preserved  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris. 

These  two  editions  of  the  Bible  bear  no  printed 
date,  ^  and  were  published,  like  all  of  Gutenberg's 
works,  without  name  or  place  of  printer.  The 
great  expense  which  he  incurred  and  the  fear  of 
lawsuits  may  have  led  him  to  omit  his  name  from 
the  books  he  printed — a  fact  which  makes  it  diffi- 
cult to  identify  all  of  them. 

Among  some  of  the  later  works   ascribed  to  ^  , 

Later  works 

Gutenberg  were:  the  Calendar  of  1457;  a  Letter  of  ^^f^^^^' 
Indulgence  of  1461;  and  the  Catholicon  of  1460, 
written  by  John  of  Genoa,  of  the  fraternity  of 
preachers  or  mendicant  friars,  which  contains  a 
Latin  grammar  and  an  etymological  dictionary,  and 
which  was  used  as  a  text-book  of  authority  in  the 
higher  schools.  Five  little  pamphlets  attributed  to 
Gutenberg  are:  A  Treatise  on  the  Celebration  of 
Mass;  a  Calendar  or  an  Almanac  for  1460;  the 
Mirror  of  the  Clergy;  a  Treatise  on  the  Necessity 
of  Councils,  etc.;  a  Dialogue  between  Cato,  Hugo, 


1  The  first  book  with  a  printed  date  is  the  Psalmorum  Codex  of 
1467,  issued  by  Schoeffer. 


John  Fust. 


32  INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 

and  Oliver,  about  Ecclesiastical  Liberty.  It  has  not 
been  proved  that  Gutenberg  printed  these  works, 
Two  books  that  he  probably  issued  are :  A  Treatise 
011  Reason  and  Conscieiice,  by  Matthew  of  Cracow, 
and  A  Summary  of  the  Articles  of  Faith,  by 
Thomas  Aquinas.  He  may  have  printed  many 
others  which  have  been  destroyed  and  forgotten. 

Two  friends  of  Gutenberg,  who  probably  knew 
about  his  invention,  erected  tablets  to  his  memory, 
— one  soon  after  his  death,  in  the  church  at 
Mainz,  and  the  other  in  1508,  in  a  law  school  of 
that  city.  The  inscriptions  on  these  two  tablets 
speak  of  him  as  the  inventor  of  printing.  Both 
Strasburg  and  Mainz  have  erected  fine  monu- 
ments to  his  memory. 

John  Fust,  also  known  as  Faust,  was  a  wealthy 
money-lender  living  in  Mainz  between  1440  and 
1460,  and  one  of  the  three  persons  to  whom  has 
been  ascribed  the  invention  of  typography.  About 
1450  Fust  entered  into  partnership  with  Guten- 
berg, and  advanced  the  money  needed  to  estabhsh 
a  printing-office.  In  1455  he  brought  suit  against 
Gutenberg  to  recover  the  sum  lent,  which,  of 
course,  had  increased  through  interest  charges  and 
other  expenses    The  j  udges  decided  in  Fust's  favor, 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOORAPHY  33 

and  as  Gutenberg  was  unable  to  pay  the  money, 

the  press  passed  out  of  his  hands.     Peter  Schoef-  Peter schoef- 

fer. 

fer,  son-in-law  of  Fust,  who  had  been  in  the  em- 
ployment of  Gutenberg,  supervised  the  manage- 
ment of  the  printing-office  after  the  departure  of 
the  latter.  The  business  was  carried  on  by  Fust 
and  Schoeffer  until  the  capture  of  Mainz,^  in  1462, 
which  stopped  the  work  of  the  press  for  a  few 
years.  Fust  died  in  1466  and  Schoeffer  became  the 
head  of  the  printing-house.  He  was  successful  in 
business  and  established  agencies  for  the  sale  of 
books  at  other  places  in  Germany.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  he  was  made  a  judge,  but  con- 
tinued the  business  of  printing  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  about  1502. 

The  first  book  issued  by  the  Fust-Schoeffer 
press,  after  the  partnership  with  Gutenberg  had 
been  dissolved,  was  the  Psalter  of  1457,  a  folio  of  Psaiterof 

'  '  1457. 

one  hundred  and  seventy-five  leaves.  This  is  the 
first  book  with  a  'printed  date,  and  is  almost  as 


1  The  archbishopric  of  Mainz  was  claimed  by  Adolph  II.,  Count  of 
Nassau,  who  was  supported  by  Pope  Pius  II.  In  1462  he  attacked 
and  captured  the  town  which  took  the  side  of  Diether,  then  arch- 
bishop and  elector  of  the  place.  Many  citizens  were  murdered  and 
the  town  was  sacked.  All  industry  was,  of  course,  destroyed.  The 
workmen  of  the  printing-offices  fled  to  other  places,  carrying  their 
art  with  them.  For  three  years  after  the  capture  of  the  town, 
nothing  of  value  was  printed  at  Mainz. 

3 


34  INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 

famous  as  the  forty-two-line  Bible.  It  is  an 
imitation  not  only  of  the  copyist's  but  of  the 
illuminator's  work,  with  black  stately  types  and 
two-colored  initials,  red  and  blue.  The  letter  is 
in  one  color  and  the  ornament  surrounding  it  in 
another.  These  capital  letters  are  the  most 
striking  thing  about  the  Psalter.  It  is  not  yet 
known  exactly  how  they  were  produced.  By 
many  this  book  is  regarded  as  the  finest  work 
issued  by  the  early  press,  but  others  think  that  in 
order  to  produce  the  blackness  of  the  tj^pe,  some 
of  the  lines  have  been  retraced  and  the  initials 
have  been  repainted.  No  later  work  of  this  press 
equals  the  Psalter  either  in  presswork  or  type- 
cutting.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the  book  had 
been  planned  and  begun  by  Gutenberg  before  he 
severed  his  partnership  with  Fust.  The  colophon 
or  imprint  is  so  ingeniously  worded  that,  while 
it  does  not  expressly  state  that  Fust  and  Schoeffer 
were  the  inventors  of  printing,  the  reader  is  left 
to  infer  that  fact : 

"This  book  of  Psalms,  decorated  with  antique  initials,  and  suffi- 
ciently emphasized  with  rubricated  letters,  has  been  thus  made  by 
the  masterly  invention  of  printing  and  also  of  type-making,  without 
the  writing  of  a  pen,  and  Is  consummated  to  the  service  of  God, 
through  the  industry  of  Johan  Fust,  citizen  oi  Mentz,  and  Peter 
Schoefier,  of  Gernszheim,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1457,  on  the  eve  of 
the  Assumption  [August  14]." 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY  35 

The  books  issued  by  the  early  printers  were  in  the 
gothic  letter.  "When  the  new  art  was  first  intro-  Gothic  letter, 
duced,  the  wealthy  looked  upon  the  innovation 
as  an  inartistic  trade,  and  the  printers  therefore 
copied  tlie  characters  of  the  contemporary  manu- 
scripts in  order  to  sell  their  works. 

Koster  is  the  person  to  whom  the  Dutch  ascribe 
the  invention  of  types.  It  seems  that  two  men  by 
the  name  of  Lourens  Janszoon  lived  in  Haarlem  janszwii 
during  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It 
is  supposed  that  one  was  sacristan  or  koster  in 
that  city;  it  is  claimed  that  he  made  his  inven- 
tion between  the  years  1420  and  1440.  Until 
1499  no  one  seemed  to  doubt  that  movable  types 
had  been  first  used  in  Strasburg  by  John  Guten- 
berg, who  afterwards  went  to  Mainz  and  estab- 
lished the  press  which  issued  the  Latin  Bible, 
known  as  the  Mazarin  Bible.  In  the  Cologne 
Chronicle,  published  in  1499,  one  chapter  discusses 
the  question  of  the  origin  of  printing.  The 
chronicler  states  that  the  new  art  was  discovered 
at  Mainz,  about  1440,  but  that  although  it  was  dis- 
covered in  Germany,  "  the  first  prefiguration  was  in 
Holland,  in  the  form  of  the  Danatuses,  which  were 
printed    before     that    time."       This    statement 


36  INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 

started  the  controversy  which  has  waged  for  four 
centuries  as  to  the  true  inventor  of  printing. 
Junius,  in  his  Batavia,  printed  in  the  Plantin  office 
at  Antwerp  in  1588/  gives  an  account  of  the 
invention,  Avhich  he  said  he  had  heard  from  oid  and 
trustworthy  people.  He  states  that  in  1440  Kos- 
ter,  who  was  then  hving  at  Haarlem,  while  one 
day  walking  in  the  Hout,  or  woods  near  the  city, 
"cut  letters  on  the  bark  of  a  beech-tree;  that  he 
printed  these  letters  on  paper  for  the  amusement 
of  children ;  that  he  invented  a  suitable  printing- 
ink,  and  afterwards  printed  whole  sheets  with 
pictures;  and  that  still  later  he  used  leaden  let- 
ters and  then  tin  ones."  Junius  also  states  that  in 
1441  one  of  Roster's  workmen  stole  the  types  and 
fled  to  Mainz,  where  he  opened  a  workshop  and 
published  two  works  with  these  types  in  1442. 

The  most  severe  assault  upon  the  claim  of  Ros- 
ter was  made  in  1870  by  a  Dutchman,  Dr.  van 
der  Linde.  He  published  a  series  of  articles 
entitled  The  Koster  Legend,  in  which  he  claimed 
that  the  documents  brought  forward  to  prove 
Roster  the  inventor  of  printing  were  false,  and 
that  the  arguments  in  his  favor  had  no  historical 


1  It  wiU  be  noticed  that  this  date  is  about  a  century  and  a  half 
later  than  the  Invention  of  typography. 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY  37 

or  bibliographical  support.  The  work  aroused 
such  indignation  in  Holland  that  Dr.  van  der  Linde 
thought  it  advisable  to  leave  the  country.  Hessels, 
also  a  native  of  Holland,  took  up  the  subject,  and 
after  considerable  research,  he  published  in  1882, 
a  book  in  which  he  stated  that  he  could  find 
nothing  to  prove  Gutenberg  the  inventor  of  print- 
ing. The  controversy  between  the  two  authors  was 
kept  up  for  some  time,  but  the  Koster  theory  has 
been  abandoned  everywhere  except  in  Holland. 


oJ 


The  art  begun  at  Mainz  soon  spread  to  other 
cities  and  to  other  countries.  Travelers  were  con-  typography, 
stantly  passing  through  this  town  to  the  Nether- 
lands, France,  Ital}^,  and  Switzerland.  The 
quarrel  of  the  archbishops  in  1462  dispersed  the 
printers  and  probably  sent  Ulrich  Zell  to  Cologne. 
Presses  were  soon  set  up  in  other  cities,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  towns  were  practising  the  art. 
England  made  a  beginning  in  1477.  France, 
Germany,  and  Italy  were  the  countries  where 
tj-pography  was  most  practised  and  where  \he 
greatest  improvements  were  made.  Three 
printers  from  Germany  established  a  press  in  Paris 
in  1470,  and  others  soon  took  up  the  work.     Many 


38 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY 


Nicolas  Jeu- 
son. 


beautiful  books  were  printed  in  France  within  the 
next  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  1458  the  King  of  France  sent  Nicolas  Jenson 
to  Mainz  to  learn  the  new  art.  On  his  return  to 
Paris,  he  tried  to  get  sufficient  money  to  establish 
a  press,  but  was  not  successful  and  went  to  Italy. 
In  Venice  he  became  famous.  Printers  had  already 
preceded  him  and  set  up  a  press  in  Subiaco,  in 
1465..  The  art  soon  spread  to  Rome,  Milan,  and 
other  Italian  cities,  but  the  centre  of  printing  and 
book-making  was  Venice.  At  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  this  city  was  renowned  not  only 
for  the  number  of  its  printing-presses  but  for  the 
beauty  of  the  works  they  produced.  Before  the 
year  1500,  over  two  hundred  printers  had  prac- 
tised typography  in  Venice,  numbering  among 
Italic  letter,  them  Aldus  Manutius,  who  introduced  the  italic 
letter.  Jenson  perfected  the  roman  type,  which 
he  used  in  1471,  but  the  letter  had  already  been 
cast  at  Subiaco  in  1465.  Our  roman  letter  of 
to-day  is  derived  from  the  two  scripts  formerly 
used  in  Rome, — capitals  from  the  letters  used  for 
inscriptions,  and  small  letters  from  the  cursive  form 
employed  for  business  correspondence. 

The  roman  type  of  Jenson  was  a  letter  of  extra- 
ordinary beauty ;  it  has  been  frequently  copied,  but 


Roman  let' 
ter. 


INVENTION  OF  TYPOGRAPHY  39 

never  equaled.  The  gothie  and  roman  forms 
struggled  together  for  some  time  after  the  intro- 
duction of  printing,  but  the  latter  finally  triumphed. 
Roman  type  was  first  used  in  England  in  1518, 
and  by  the  year  1600  books  were  generally 
printed  in  that  character.  William  Morris  adopted 
the  roman  letter  of  Jcnson  as  the  model  for  the 
Kelmscott  Press  when  it  was  started  at  Ham- 
mersmith, England,  in  1891. 


T 


CHAPTER  IV 

EARLY    PRINTING-PRESSES 

HE  most  celebrated  of  the  earl}^  printing-presses 
were  those  of : 

Aldus  Manutius,  at  Venice,  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries. 

Anthon}'-  Koberger,  at  Nuremberg,  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries. 

Elzevir,  in  Holland,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries. 

Estienne,  at  Paris,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries. 

Plantin,  at  Antwerp,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries. 


Aldus  Manutius  was  an  eminent  printer  who 

Aldus  TT  •  1  1  •  •  /•         1  • 

Manutius.  lived  in  Venice  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  supposed  that  he  went  to  Venice 
about  1489,  and  began  printing  there  in  1494. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  industry  and 
exercised  extreme  care  in  the  production  of  his 
works,  which  are  characterized  by  good  typography 
l40) 


EARLY  PRINTING-PRESSES  41 

and  correct  texts.  The  Aldine  press  is  celebrated 
for  its  editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  To 
assist  in  the  preparation  of  these  volumes,  Aldus 
gathered  around  him,  as  editors  and  proof-readers, 
the  most  scholarly  men  of  his  age.  He  estab- 
hshed  in  Venice  the  Aldine  Academy,  the  aim  of 
which  was  to  further  the  knowledge  of  classical 
Greek  hterature.  To  this  Academy  came  artists 
and  learned  men  from  both  the  Levant  and  West- 
ern Europe. 

Greek  grammars  and  dictionaries  were  published 
also  by  Aldus.  He  introduced  the  type  called 
italic  by  the  Latin  and  English  peoples,  and 
cursiv  by  the  Germans.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
formed  upon  the  handwriting  of  Petrarch. 
Aldus  put  his  prefaces  and  introductions  in 
this  type,  and  sometimes  whole  books.  The  pres- 
ent system  of  punctuation  may  be  said  to  have 
been  devised  by  him,  as  before  his  time  but  few 
marks  had  been  employed  and  the  use  of  these 
was  not  well  regulated. 

The  last  of  this  family  of  printers  died  deeply 
in  debt,  and  his  printing  apparatus  was  sold  by 
his  creditors.  The  house  had  existed  about  one 
hundred  years.  It  had  been  noted  for  the  superior 
character  of  its  work  and  for  its  patronage  by 


Anthony 


42  EARLY  PRINTING-PRESSES 

men  of  letters,  and  had  been  a  source  of  the 
greatest  credit  to  Italy. 

Anthony  Koberger  began  to  print  at  Nurem- 
Koberger.  j^gj.g  jj^  1472.  He  was  associatcd  in  business  with 
Frederick  Creusner,  another  famous  Nuremberg 
printer.  He  is  regarded  by  some  as  the  most 
important  printer  and  publisher  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  It  is  said  that  he  had  twenty-four 
presses  at  Nuremberg,  besides  having  books 
printed  for  him  in  other  towns. 

In  1480  Koberger  published  an  interesting 
catalogue  containing  the  titles  of  twenty-two 
books,  not  all,  however,  printed  by  himself.  A 
copy  of  this  catalogue  is  in  the  British  Museum. 
He  is  said  to  have  printed  twelve  editions  of  the 
Bible  in  Latin  and  one  in  German.  His  best  known 
work,  and  the  most  curious,  is  the  Nuremberg 
Chronicle,  published  in  1493.  This  book  is  a  sum- 
mary of  the  history,  geography,  and  wonders  of  the 
world,  and  contains  about  two  thousand  illustra- 
tions taken  from  three  hundred  wood-engravings, 
the  same  engraving  being  employed  several  times 
to  represent  different  objects.  The  same  cut  was 
used  to  portray  both  Paris  of  Troy  and  the  poet 
Dante. 


EARLY  PRINTING-PRESSES  43 


Elze\4r  is  the  name  of  a  celebrated  family  of  Elzevir. 
Dutch  printers  and  publishers  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  Louis  Elzevir,  the 
foimder  of  the  house,  issued  his  first  work  about 
1583.  There  were  twelve  printers  of  this  family. 
The  press  became  famous  for  its  editions,  in  small 
size,  of  the  Latin  classics  and  of  works  of  French 
authors  on  historical  and  political  subjects.  As 
these  printers  were  also  booksellers,  it  is  often 
difficult  to  determine  the  genuine  Elzevirs. 

The  Estienne  family  flourished  during  the  Estienne. 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  in  Paris  and 
Geneva.  The  name  is  sometimes  given  Etienne, 
or  Stephens,  Stephanus  being  the  I^atin  transla- 
tion of  the  French  word  Etienne.  The  name  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  honorable  in  the  his- 
tory of  typography.  The  first  printer  of  this 
house,  Henry,  was  contemporary  with  the  rise  of 
printing,  as  he  was  born  about  1460  and  died  in 
1520.  He  published  mathematical  and  theological 
works  which  were  distinguished  for  their  accuracy. 
His  son  Robert  was  a  man  of  great  learning;  in 
his  house  conversation  was  carried  on  in  Latin, 
even  among  the  v/omen  and  children.  He  issued 
about  four  hundred  works  and  printed  many  edi- 


44  EARLY  PBINTING-PRESSES 


tions  of  the  Bible.  His  most  important  work  was 
liis  Dictionary  of  the  Latin  Language,  a  book  on 
which  he  worked  day  and  night  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  which  was  for  a  long  time  the  standard 
authority  on  its  subject.  He  inclined  to  the  Pro- 
testant faith  and  attempted  to  publish  such  works 
as  he  chose ;  for  this,  he  was  obhged  to  leave  France 
and  went  to  Geneva.  Henry,  the  son  of  Robert, 
also  a  learned  man,  printed  in  Paris  and  Geneva. 
He  pubhshed  many  works,  among  them  numerous 
editions  of  the  Greek  classics,  but  his  fame  as  a 
scholar  rests  upon  his  Dictionary  of  the  Greek 
Language.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  hfe,  as  he  suf- 
fered from  pecuniary  losses,  he  became  restless,  and 
shifted  his  residence  from  one  place  to  another, 
doing  much  editorial  work  and  also  publishing 
books.  After  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1598, 
the  reputation  of  the  house  v/as  kept  up  for  some 
time  by  other  members  of  the  family. 

Christopher  Plantin  was  a  celebrated  printer 
piantin?  ^^  and  publisher  of  Antwerp.  He  was  born  in  1514, 
near  Tours  in  France,  and  studied  under  the  king's 
printer  at  Caen,  In  1555  he  set  up  a  press  at 
Antwerp,  and  published  in  that  year  his  first 
volume,  entitled  Institution  dhme  Fille  de  Noble 


EARLY  PBINTING-PRESSES  45 

Maison.  Although  a  good  linguist,  Plantin  made 
no  claim  to  scholarly  attainments.  He  was  a 
skilful  business  man  and  spent  large  sums  of  money 
on  the  details  of  his  work  to  insure  good  tj^pog- 
raphy.  He  employed  a  number  of  scholars  and 
artists  to  assist  in  the  preparation  of  his  works, 
which  were  famous  for  their  beautiful  letterpress 
and  fine  copperplate  illustrations.  Plantin  pub- 
hshed  books,  not  only  in  Latin  and  Greek,  as  had 
been  done  by  Aldus  and  Estienne,  but  also  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  people — in  French,  German, 
Flemish,  Dutch,  English,  Spanish  and  Italian. 
He  had  printing-houses  in  Leyden  and  Paris,  and 
an  agency  at  Salamanca.  He  died  in  1589,  leaving 
considerable  property  to  his  children.  Plantin 
had  no  son,  but  as  three  of  his  daughters  had 
married  men  accpainted  with  the  printing  busi- 
ness, the  establishment  continued  in  the  family. 
John  Moret  or  Moretus,^  a  son-in-law,  succeeded 
Plantin  as  the  head  of  the  house  in  Antwerp. 

The  most  noted  of  the  publications  of  the  Plantin 
press  was  the  Polyglot  Bible,  printed  from  1569 
to  1573   by  authority  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain.     It 


1  The  name  Plantin  Moretua  is  sometimes  given  to  the  museum  in 
the  house  of  Plantin, 


46  EARLY  PRINTING-PRESSES 

was  in  the  form  of  eight  folio  vohimes  and  was 
in  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Chaldaic,  and  Syriac. 
For  four  years  forty  men  were  continually  at 
work  on  this  book,  and  the  labor  alone  cost  forty 
thousand  crowns.  Only  five  hundred  copies  were 
printed,  and  a  large  number  of  these  were  lost  at 
sea  dming  transportation  to  Spain. 

The    printing-house    continued    in    the    family 
until  1875,  when  it  was  ceded  to  the  city  of  Ant- 
werp, for  1,200,000  francs,  to  be  forever  main- 
tained as  a  public  institution  under  the  name  of 
Mus^e  the  Mus^e  Plantin.     The  museum  consists  of  a 

Plantln. 

number  of  buildmgs  around  a  square.  Some 
of  the  rooms  were  the  counting-rooms  and  offices 
of  the  printing-house,  others  were  the  private 
apartments  of  the  family.  The  old  press,  type, 
proof-sheets,  and  other  printing  materials  of 
Plantin  and  his  successors  are  still  preserved. 
The  establishment  furnishes  a  unique  picture  of 
the  dwelling  and  adjoining  business  premises  of  a 
Flemish  patrician  of  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  museum  is  regarded  by  printers  as 
one  of  great  interest,  value,  and  beauty. 


CHAPTER  V 

ENGLAND     AND    AMERICA 

WILLIAM  CAXTON   is  the  first  printer  who  wi,„^^cax- 

practised  the  art  in  England.  He  was  born, as  ^°°- 
he  himself  says/  'in  the  Weald  of  Kent."  The  year 
of  his  birth  is  not  definitely  known,  but  it  was 
probably  near  1420  or  1422,  as  he  was  apprenticed 
in  1438  to  the  mercer's  trade.  A  few  years  after 
the  latter  date  he  left  England  for  Bruges  in  the 
Low  Coimtries,  which  was  then  the  centre  of  his 
trade,  and  remained  there  for  thirty  years.  In 
1462  he  became  manager,  at  Bruges,  of  a  new 
association  of  English  merchants.  By  1470  he 
had  entirely  abandoned  his  business,  and  had 
entered  the  service  of  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Biu-- 
gundy  and  sister  of  Edward  IV.  Caxton  had  long 
been  interested  in  the  romances  of  the  day  and 
had  translated  some  of  them.  Le  Recueil  des 
Histoires  de  Troyes  was  then  in  great  demand, 
and  as  he  wished  to  lend  copies  to  his  friends, 
he  resolved  to  learn  the  art  of  printing.  Tliis 
was  the  first  book  printed  in  the  English  lan- 
(47) 


48  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

First  book       ffuage,  but  was  issued  without  date  or  place  of 

printed  in  the    ^      ^   '  .         ,       ,  -  mi 

English  Ian-     publication.     It   was    printed    about    1474.     The 

guage  ^ 

Game  and  Playe  of  the  Chesse  was  the  second 
book.  About  the  place  of  its  publication  there  has 
been  much  dispute,  but  it  is  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  printed  at  Bruges;  some  claim  that 
it  was  printed  in  England.  In  1477  Caxton 
left  Bruges,  and  returned  to  England.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  in  his  native  country,  he  began  to 
print  in  Westminster.  The  first  book  printed  in 
England  was  the  Dides  and  Sayings  of  the  Philoso- 
phers. Some  copies  of  this  book  are  without  the 
imprint,  but  one  colophon  gives  the  date  of  pub- 
lication as  November  18,  1477. 

Caxton  was  not  only  a  printer;  he  was  also  a 
translator  and  an  editor.  He  edited  all  the  books 
he  printed  and  translated  not  less  than  twenty-two, 
among  them  the  Golden  Legend.  The  number  of 
books  he  issued  is  about  one  hundred.  They  are 
mostly  in  English,  although  he  was  an  excellent 
French  scholar  and  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  Latin. 
His  influence,  of  course,  was  great  in  fixing  the 
future  of  the  English  tongue.  He  died  about 
1491,  and  his  printing-press  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  who  had  been  his  apprentice 
and  assistant  and  who  continued  the  business  in 
the  same  house  at  Westminster. 


OLD  WOODEN   PRINTING-PRESS,  15t8. 

[After  woodcut  by  Badius.] 


ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  49 

In  America  printing  began  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  printing  in 
The  first  printer  was  Juan  Pablos  and  the  first  Mexico*" 
book  printed  was  La  Escala  Espirihial  para 
Llegar  al  Cielo  (A  Spiritual  Ladder  for  Reaching 
Heaven)  of  San  Juan  Chmaco,  issued  about  1536. 
So  far  as  known,  no  copy  of  this  book  now  exists. 
The  oldest  American  book  extant,  with  a  date,  is 
the  Manual  de  Adultos,  printed  in  1540  by  Juan 
Cromberger,  a  celebrated  printer  of  Seville,  of 
whom  Pablos  is  said  to  have  been  the  agent. 
Only  the  last  four  leaves  of  this  book  are  in 
existence  and  are  preserved  in  the  library  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Toledo.  About  ninety  books  printed 
in  Mexico  bear  dates  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
greater  number  being  ecclesiastical  works.  After 
Spanish  the  language  most  employed  was  Latin, 
then  came  Aztec  and  other  native  tongues. 

Peru  was  the  next  country  in  which  printing 
was  carried  on.    A  press  was  established  at  Lima  „ 

'^  Peru. 

about  1584.  The  earliest  known  book  issued  by  it 
was  the  Dodrina  Christiana,  in  the  Quichua  and 
Aymara  languages,  printed  by  Antonio  Ricardo. 
The  first  printing-press  in  North  America  was 
erected  at  Cambridge,  ]\Iassachusetts,  through  the       . 

°  '  '-'  United 

efforts   of   the  Rev.   Joss  or  Jesse  Glover,  who  states. 
died  while  bringing  the  materials  to  this  place. 


50  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

Glover's  wife  married  Henry  Dunster,  the  presi- 
dent of  Harvard  College,  and  he  assumed  the 
management  of  the  press.  It  was  operated  by 
Stephen  Daye,  a  workman  who  sailed  with  Glover, 
and  in  1639  it  issued  The  Freeman's  Oath  and  an 
almanac.  Its  first  important  work  was  The  Bay 
Psalm  Book,  printed  in  1640.  This  press  also 
issued  the  celebrated  Indian  Bible  of  Eliot  and 
other  of  his  works  in  the  Indian  language. 

Printing  was  begun  in  Boston  in  1676,  by  John 
Foster.  The  first  press  in  Philadelphia  was  set  up 
by  William  Bradford,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Friends.  The  first  work  issued  by  him  was  an 
almanac,  in  1685.  Bradford  became  involved  in  a 
religious  controversy  and  removed  to  New  York, 
where  he  began  printing  in  1693.  An  extract  from 
some  Virginia  documents  shows  that  printing  was 
carried  on  in  that  Colony  in  1682,  and  an  imprint 
has  been  found  dated  St.  Mary's,  Maryland,  1689. 
Before  the  Revolution,  about  twenty-five  towns 
were  practising  the  art;  and  after  the  war  ended 
and  settlements  v/ere  made  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies,  the  knowledge  of  printing  spread  rapidly 
through  the  country. 

Havana  had  a  printing-press  in  1787,  and 
Montevideo,  South  America,  in  1807. 


ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  51 

Among  the  early  books  published  in  America,  a 
few  still  retain  their  interest,  not  only  for  their 
quaintness  but  because  of  the  influence  they  have 
exerted  on  the  national  character. 

John   Cotton's    catechism,  or  Milk  for  Babes,   ,  ^ 

'  '  '    John  Cotton's 

first  issued   in  England,  was  reprinted   at  Cam-  {r^fji^^^f^" 
bridge,   Massachusetts,   in    1656.     The   full  title  ^^^^■" 
reads :     "  Spiritual  Milk  for  Boston  Babes  in  either 
England.      Drawn  out  of  the    Breasts   of    both 
Testaments  for  their   Souls'  Nourishment.     But 
may  be  of  like  use  to  any  Children.     By  John 
Cotton,  B.  D.,  late  Teacher  to  the  Church  of  Bos- 
ton in  New  England. " 
^   This    catechism    was    afterwards    included    in 
another  famous  book.  The  New  England  Primer,^  Ti^e  ^^^^ 
the  first  edition  of  which  is  supposed  to  have  ap-  ^^t°^ 
peared    between    1687    and    1690.     Besides    the 
alphabet  and  the   syllabarium,  the   Primer  con- 
tained the  Lord's    Prayer,  the    Apostle's  Creed, 
the  Ten  Commandments;    the   Catechism,  which 
consisted  of  either  the  Westminster  Assembly's 
"Shorter  Catechism  "  or  John  Cotton's  "Spiritual 
Milk  for  Babes  ; ".  the  poem  of  John  Rogers,  with 


1  A  fine  edition  of  the  New  England  Primer,  containing  a  history 
of  its  origin  and  development  and  fac-simile  illustrations  and  repro- 
ductions, was  prepared  by  Paul  Leicester  Ford,  and  published  In 
1897. 


52  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

the  picture  of  the  martyr  burning  at  the  stake; 
sometimes  another  popm ;  and  various  verses  and 
precepts  intended  to  inculcate  wisdom  and  virtue. 
The  one  feature  which  must  have  made  it  popu- 
lar with  children  was  its  illustrations,  especially 
the  rhymed  alphabet  cuts ;  thus  the  letter  A  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  picture  of  the  partaking  of  the  forbid- 
den fruit,  with  the  rhyme, 

In  Adam's  Fall 

We  Sinned  all 

In  these  early  times  a  m.raiber  of  books  were 
printed  for  the  Indians.     The  Rev.  John  Eliot  not 
Bible.  only  learned  their  language  but  translated  the 

whole  bible  into  it.  This  bible  was  printed  bj^ 
Samuel  Green  and  Marmaduke  Johnson  in  1663; 
it  is  a  typographical  curiosity.  Eliot  translated 
also  several  other  books  for  the  Indians,  and  pub- 
lished in  their  language  the  catechism,  a  grammar, 
and  a  primer. 

Manuscript  journals,  somewhat  resembling  our 
script  and       modern  newspapers,  existed  in  the  time  of  Julius 

printed  news-  t  t-     t        n, 

sheets.  Cffisar,  when  the  proceedmgs  of  the  Senate  and 

the  principal  events  in  Rome  were  published  in 
the  Acta  Diurna.  There  is  a  tradition  of  a 
printed  news-sheet  at  Nuremberg  in  1457,  but  no 


ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  53 

copy  is  extant.  The  earliest  German  newspaper, 
the  Frankfurter  Journal,  appeared  in  1615,  In 
England  the  first  journal  in  print  was  the  Weekly 
Newes,  begun  in  1622.  Journalism  in  France  is 
said  to  date  from  1631,  when  the  Gazette  was 
first  issued.  The  oldest  official  journal  which  is 
still  published  is  the  Peking  Gazette.  It  has  ex- 
isted for  centuries,  but  the  date  of  its  establish- 
ment is  not  known. 

The  fii'st  journal  in  America  appeared  in  Boston  Eariynew 
on  September  25th,  1690,  under  the  name  of  ^hc^ 
Publick  Occurrences.  This  was  a  pamphlet  rather 
than  a  newspaper.  It  was  intended  to  be  issued 
monthly,  but  it  was  soon  suppressed  by  the 
General  Court  because  of  the  nature  of  the  reading 
matter.  The  Boston  News-Letter  was  started  in 
1704  and  continued  to  be  published  until  1776. 
The  Boston  Gazette  appeared  on  December  21st, 
1719,  and  The  American  Weekly  Mercury,  of  Phila- 
delphia, one  day  later.  The  New  England  Courant, 
edited  and  printed  by  James  Franklin,  followed  in 
1721.  This  was  the  paper  upon  which  Benjamin 
Franklin  began  his  career  as  a  printer;  it  was  while 
setting  type  for  his  brother  that  the  thought  oc- 
curred to  him  that  perhaps  he  could  write  as  well 
as  some  of    the   contributors.      The    New    York 


54  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

Gazette  was  the  first  newspaper  in  that  province. 
It  was  begim  by  William  Bradford  in  1725. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  Philadelphia  was 
started  in  1728  by  Samuel  Keimer,  but  in  less 
than  a  year  it  was  bought  by  Benjamin  Franklin. 
In  1821  it  took  the  name  of  The  Saturday  Evening 
Post;  under  this  title  the  paper  is  still  issued  by 
The  Curtis  Publishing  Company,  and  is  the  oldest 
existing  journal  in  America. 

In  England  the  first  successful  daily  news- 
The  first  paper  was  The  Daily  Courani,  which  appeared 
papers  in        in  1702.     It  was  a   small  sheet  printed  on    one 

England 

and  America,  side  only.  The  Postboy  had  started  as  a  daily 
paper  in  1695,  but  only  four  numbers  were  is- 
sued. The  London  Times,  the  most  influential 
journal  in  Europe,  is  usually  dated  from  1788, 
but  the  paper  was  really  founded  in  1785, 
under  the  title  of  The  London  Daily  Universal 
Register.  In  America  daily  newspapers  began 
with  the  first  issue  of  The  American  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser of  Philadelphia  in  1784.  The  early 
American  newspapers  were  small  and  contained 
little  home  news,  the  space  being  given  up 
mainly  to  extracts  from  foreign  journals. 

No  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  printing  in 
this  country  would  be  complete  without  some  men- 


ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  56 

tion  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  most  illustrious  Benjamin 
American  who  has  ever  practised  the  art;  for  he  ^''^^^^i^- 
was  not  only  a  printer,  but  philosopher,  statesman, 
diplomatist,  author.  Born  in  Boston  in  1706,  he 
was  apprenticed  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  to  his 
brother  James,  to  learn  the  printing  trade.  Because 
of  the  harsh  treatment  he  received  at  his  brother's 
hands,  he  slipped  away  from  Boston  on  a  sloop  to 
New  York.  Failing  to  find  employment  there,  he 
went  on  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived,  a  boy 
of  seventeen,  with  only  a  "Dutch  dollar"  in  his 
pocket.  He  began  work  at  his  trade,  and  in  a  few 
years  succeeded  in  getting  the  government  print- 
ing and  bought  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette. 

In  1732  Franklin  issued  the  first  number  of 
Poor  Richard's  Almanack,  which   was   published   "PoorRich- 

"^  ard's  Alma- 

every  year  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  "Poor  nack." 
Richard's  Almanack  "  made  Franklin  famous.  He 
had  noticed  that  in  many  homes  this  almanac  was 
the  only  book.  He  therefore  filled  the  spaces 
between  the  remarkable  days  in  the  calendar  with 
proverbial  sentences  inculcating  industry  and 
frugality  as  the  means  of  obtaining  wealth  and 
thereby  (according  to  Franklin's  belief)  securing 
virtue;  for  he  thought  that  the  way  to  make  people 
good  was  to  help  them  to  be  happy.  To  the  counsels 


56  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 

of  Poor  Richard  are  due  to  some  extent  the  shrewd, 
industrious,  and  thi'ifty  habits  of  the  typical  Ameri- 
can. 
^   ,  Franklin's    Speech    of    Father    Ahraliam    was 

'Speech  of  ^  ' 

ham  ""^ '^'^'^^  reprinted  in  England  and  twice  translated  into 
French.  It  has  been  issued  since  in  the  principal 
European  languages.  It  has  been  called  "the 
most  famous  piece  of  literature  the  colonies  pro- 
duced.". 

It  is  impossible  to  notice  within  the  limits  of 
this  volume  Franklin's  important  work  as  colo- 
nial agent  in  England  and  as  ambassador  of  the 
United  States  to  France,  and  the  innumerable 
benefits  he  conferred  upon  his  countrymen  by  his 
inventions  and  discoveries  and  the  many  organiza- 
tions he  either  founded  or  improved.  He  died  in 
Philadelphia,  on  April  17th,  1790,  "  full  of  years 
and  honor." 


Beginnings 
e- 
ing. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TYPE-FOUNDING 

TpROM  the  time  of  the  invention  of  typography 
^  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  °l^^ 
printers  made  their  own  type.  Many  printing- 
offices  had  only  four  or  five  sizes,  and  but  small 
quantities  of  these.  After  1550  the  casting  of 
types  became  a  distinct  business. 

Claude  Garamond  of  Paris,  a  pupil  of  Geoffroy 
Tory,  the  great  French  engraver  and  printer,  is 
known  as  the  ''father  of  letter-founders." 

In  England,  the  first  founder  of  note  was 
Joseph  Moxon,  who  began  letter-cutting  in  1659; 
but  neither  Moxon's  types  nor  those  of  his  imme- 
diate successors  could  compare  with  the  type  cast 
in  France  and  Holland.  William  Caslon,  who 
established  a  foundry  about  1720,  had  greater 
success.  His  work  possessed  such  technical  excel- 
lence that  England  soon  ceased  to  purchase  type 
from  Holland.  This  house  was  controlled  by  the 
Caslons  to  the  fifth  generation,  and  is  still  suc- 
cessful and  flourishing. 

(57) 


58  TYPE- FOUNDING 

In  America,  type-casting  was  attempted  as 
early  as  1768.  The  first  regular  foundry  was 
established  by  Christopher  Sauer,  at  Ger- 
mantown,  Pennsylvania,  about  1772.  Several 
unsuccessful  efforts  to  establish  foundries  in 
the  United  States  were  made  by  various  persons, 
among  whom  was  Benjamin  Franklin.  In  1796, 
Binny  &  Ronaldson,  of  Edinburgh,  began  the 
business  in  Philadelphia.  This  was  the  first 
foundry  which  lasted  for  many  years.  The  house 
was  subsequent^  known  as  the  Johnson  Foundry, 
afterwards  as  the  Mac  Kellar,  Smiths  &  Jordan 
branch  of  the  American  Type-Founders  Company. 
Successful  foundries  were  also  established  in  New 
York,  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  by  Elihu 
White  and  D.  &  G.  Bruce. 

Until  near  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, all  type  was  cast  by  hand.  About  1828 
William  M.  Johnson,  of  Long  Island,  made  the 
experiment  of  casting  type  by  machinery,  but  his 
types  were  too  light  and  porous  to  be  of  practical 
use.  In  1838  David  Bruce,  jr.,  of  New  York, 
hig^by°ma-*^  took  out  a  patent  for  a  type-casting  machine  which 
^^'  was  more  successful.  This  machine  was  after- 
wards improved  and  was  generally  adopted  by 
the  foundries  of  the  United  States;  it  was  gradu- 


TYPE-FOUNDING 


59 


ally  introduced,  with  modifications,  into  European 
foundries. 

Type-metal  is  an  alloy  of  melted  lead,  tin,  and 
antimony,  sometimes  hardened  by  an  addition  of  Type-metai. 
copper  or  nickel.     Large  types  for  posting-bills 


BRUCE  TYPE-CASTING  MACHINE. 


are  made  from  close-grained  wood,  such  as  box, 
maple,  or  pear;  for  this  purpose,  types  of  wood 
are  lighter  and  cheaper  than  those  made  from 
metal. 

The  tools  made  before  the  letter  is  cast  are,  first, 
the  Counter-punch  and  the   Punch,  or  more  fre- 


60 


TYPE-FOUNDING 


The  tools. 


The  counter- 
punch. 


The  punch. 


quently  at  the  present  day,  an  engraved  Master- 
type;  from  the  punch  or  the  master-type  is  made 
the  Matrix,  or  the  mould  for  the  letter  or  face  of 
the  type.  The  tool  termed  the  Mould  is  that  which 
holds  the    matrix  during  the  process  of  casting. 

The  punch-cutter  first  draws  a  geometrical 
framework,  on  which  is  determined  the  position  of 
each  line  and  the  height  of  each  character.  The 
beauty  of  a  printed  page  consists  in  the  apparent 
precision  of  the  types.  The  characters  must  seem 
uniform  in  every  particular,  but  some  allowance 
must  be  made  for  optical  delusions ;  occasional  devi- 
ations must  also  be  made  to  render  each  letter 
pleasing  to  the  eye  in  any  combination  with 
other  letters. 

The  interior  of  the  letter  is  not  cut  out,  but  the 
hollow  of  the  letter,  or  that  part  of  it  which  does 
not  show  black  in  the  printed  impression,  is 
formed  on  steel  in  high  relief.  This  is  the  Counter- 
punch. 

The  Punch  is  made  by  impressing  the  counter- 
punch  into  the  end  of  a  short  bar  of  soft  steel. 
The  interior  of  the  letter  is  thus  quickly  made  at 
one  stroke,  with  much  neater  edges  than  could  be 
given  by  cutting.  The  outer  edges  are  cut  away, 
and  the  model  letter  stands  in  high  rehef. 


TYPE- FOUNDING  61 

The  punch  is  hardened  and  is  forced  into  a  flat, 
narrow  bar  of  cold-rolled  copper.  The  result  is  a 
reverse  or  sunken  imprint  of  the  letter  on  the 
punch,  which  is  known  as  a  strike,  a  drive,  or  an 
unjustified  matrix.  This  is  carefull}'  finished  and 
becomes  the  Matrix.  The  matrix  is  really  the  The  matrix. 
mould  for  the  face  of  the  letter,  but  it  is  not  the 
tool  known  by  that  name. 

Matrices  are  also  produced  by  the  electrotype 
process.  In  this  method  the  punch  of  steel  and  ?^^proee^ 
the  operation  of  striking  are  not  needed.  The  maSfces^^ 
characters  are  first  cut  on  type-metal;  after  some 
preparation  the  model  letters  are  suspended  in  the 
bath  of  a  galvanic  batter}^,  containing  a  solution 
of  sulphate  of  copper.  By  the  action  of  the  electric 
current  on  the  zinc  and  copper  plates,  atoms  of 
copper  are  liberated,  which  adhere  to  the  suspended 
letters.  "When  the  deposit  has  become  sufficiently 
thick,  the  letters  are  taken  out  of  the  bath  and  the 
shells  of  copper  are  removed.  The  shells  are  then 
backed  up  and  are  fashioned  into  movable  matrices. 

The  Mould  consists  of  tAvo  pieces  which  are 
counterparts,  "\^^len  brought  together,  the  in- 
terior sides  of  these  two  parts  are  in  exact 
parallel.  In  the  upper  end  is  a  seat  for  the 
matrix;  the  lower  end  is  left  open  for  the  inflow 


The  mould. 


62 


TYPE- FOUNDING 


The  process 
of  casting 
type  by 
machinery 


of  molten  type-metal ;  between  the  two  ends  is  the 
hollow  into  which  the  metal  flows.  The  mould  is 
immovable  in  the  direction  of  the  body^  size  of 
the  type,  which  determines  the  height  of  the  letter, 
but  can  be  adjusted  to  suit  the  varying  widths  of 
different  letters.  However  types  may  vary  in  width 
of  face,  for  any  given  size  of  type  they  must  be 
exactly  alike  in  body.  Uniformity  of  body  is  se- 
cured by  having  only  one  mould  for  all  the  letters 
of  that  body;  it  is  only  necessary  to  change  the 
matrix  for  each  character.  Each  character  re- 
quires a  separate  matrix. 

After  the  mould  has  been  attached  to  the  type- 
casting machine  and  the  matrix  placed  in  the 
mould,  the  process  of  founding  is  as  follows: 

In  the  machine  is  a  melting-pot  to  hold  the 
metal,  which  is  kept  fluid  by  a  gas-jet  or  a  small 
furnace.  In  the  centre  of  the  pot  is  a  pump  with 
a  plunger.  At  each  revolution  of  the  crank,  the 
plunger  forces  through  an  aperture  enough  of  the 
molten  metal  to  fill  the  mould  and  the  matrix.  The 
halves  of  the  mould  separate;  by  nicely  adjusted 
leverage  the  matrix  is  drawn  back  from  the  face 
of  the  type,  and  the  type  is  thrown  out.  The 
mould  then  closes  automatically,  and  the  plunger 


iBy  body  is  meant  the  size  of  a  letter  considered  down  a  page,  at 
right  angles  with  the  printed  lines ;  as,  pica  body,  brevier  body,  etc 


TYPE-  FO  UNDINO  63 


injects  a  fresh  supply  of  metal  which  is  dislodged 
as  before  in  the  form  of  a  type.  The  mould  is  kept 
cool  either  by  a  blast  of  cold  air  or  by  cold  water. 

The  type  comes  out  with  a  wedge-shaped  strip 
of  metal,  called  a  jet,  adhering  to  its  lower  end, 
which  is  broken  off  either  by  automatic  breakers  or 
by  hand.  On  the  corners  of  the  bodies  of  the 
type  are  burs  or  sharp  edges  of  metal;  these  are 
removed  by  a  workman  known  as  the  "rubber." 
The  types  are  then  set  up  in  a  long  row,  and  are 
fastened  face  downwards  in  a  grooved  channel. 
Here  the  roughness  at  the  jet-fracture  is  plowed 
out  by  a  "dresser,"  with  a  hand-plane;  this 
leaves  the  types  with  a  shallow  groove  between 
the  feet,  which  enables  the  body  to  stand  on 
its  feet,  thus  securing  uniformity  of  height.  After 
other  processes  of  smoothing,  the  types  are  exam- 
ined under  a  magnify ing-glass  and  every  imperfect 
type  is  rejected.  The  perfect  types  are  then 
packed  in  paper  ready  for  use.  The  casting- 
machine  is  operated  either  by  turning  a  small 
hand-crank  or  by  steam. 

In  hand-casting  the  workman  held  in  his  left  Hand-cast- 
hand  the  mould,  which  was  shielded  to  protect  him 
from  being  burned  by  the  hot  metal.     With  a 
spoon  he  poured  the  fluid  metal  into  the  mouth- 


64  TYPE-FOUNDING 

piece  of  the  mould.  At  the  same  moment,  with  a 
violent  jerk,  he  threw  up  his  left  hand,  to  drive  the 
metal  with  force  against  the  matrix.  This  re- 
quired great  dexterity,  for  if  the  mould  were  not 
thrown  up  quickly  and  at  the  right  instant,  the 
metal  would  not  penetrate  the  matrix.  By  this 
process  only  about  four  thousand  types  could  be 
cast  in  a  day. 

During  the  last  thirty  years,  many  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  automatic  tj-pe-casting 
machines.  At  different  times  attempts  have  been 
made  to  invent  machines  which  should  perform 
all  the  processes  and  deliver  types  without  re- 
course to  manual  labor.  The  most  successful 
of  these  machines  was  the  one  for  which  Henry 
Barth  was  granted  a  patent  in  1888.  This  ma- 
chine, automatically,  breaks  off  the  jet,  plows 
the  groove  betw^een  the  feet,  and  smooths  the 
feather-edges  at  the  angles.  By  hand,  the  aver- 
age amount  cast  was  400  an  hour;  by  the 
Bruce  machine,  of  ordinary  sizes  of  book  type, 
the  average  is  100  in  a  minute;  of  small  sizes 
of  type,  140  or  more  can  be  cast  in  a   minute. 


CHAPTER  VII 

TYPESETTING 

A  S  the  hand-compositor  works  he  has  before 
"^  him  two  inchned  cases,  one  above  the  other,  by  hand, 
called,  respectively,  Upper  Case  and  Lower 
Case.  These  contain  the  types — the  upper  case, 
capitals  and  small  capitals,  and  the  lower  case, 
small  letters.  The  compositor  selects  the  proper 
types  and  forms  with  them  a  hne  in  an  instru- 
ment held  in  his  left  hand,  known  as  the  com- 
posing-stick. This  "stick"  is  really  a  three- 
sided  tray  or  box;  for  ordinary  book  and 
newspaper  work,  it  is  from  six  to  eight  inches 
long.  The  width  of  the  matter  composed,  or 
the  length  of  the  line,  is  regulated  by  a  shd- 
ing  piece  of  metal  and  a  screw.  The  line  is 
"  justified,"  or  made  the  proper  length,  by  the 
insertion  and  rearrangement  of  spaces,  or  pieces 
of  metal  of  standard  widths,  which  separate  one 
word  from  another.  After  the  stick  has  been 
filled,  the  type  set  up  is  placed  on  a  shallow 
frame  or  pan,  called  a  galley.  When  no  greater 
spacing  is  desired  between  the  lines  than  the 
5  (65) 


66  TYPESETTING 


types  themselves  afford,  the  matter  is  said  to 
be  "solid.'!  When  wider  spacing  is  desired,  thin 
strips  of  metal,  called  leads,  are  inserted  between 
the  hnes;  the  work  is  then  known  as  "leaded." 
The  composed  types  are  made  into  pages,  and  are 
locked  up  in  forms  on  the  imposing  stone. 

Until  1821  no  attempt  was  made  to  set  type 
bv  ma-  ^°^     by  machinery,  and  even  then  the  effort  was  only 

cfiinery. 

theoretical.  In  1822  Dr.  William  Church,  a  native 
of  the  United  States,  while  endeavoring  to  bring 
out  other  inventions  in  England,  announced  that 
he  had  discovered  a  method  of  casting  and  com- 
posing type  automatically  at  an  unusual  speed; 
this,  however,  did  not  include  distribution.  He 
was  granted  a  patent  in  England,  but  it  seems 
that  nothing  more  than  a  wooden  model  of  the 
machine  was  ever  made.  In  America  the  first 
patents  were  granted  in  1840  and  1841  to  Fred- 
erick Rosenberg  and  to  Young  and  Delcambre. 
The  first  typesetting  machine  which  continued  to 
be  used  for  practical  work  for  a  number  of  years 
was  the  one  invented  by  William  H.  Mitchel,  a 
brother  of  the  Irish  patriot.  He  took  out  his 
first  patent  in  1853,  but  his  machine  was  finally 
superseded  by  others,  for  want  of  a  good  dis- 
tributer. 


TYPESETTING  67 


The  Alden  machine  was  built  in  1857,  but  was 
not  continued  in  commercial  use.  The  Burr- 
Kastenbein  machine,  requiring  hand-justification, 
came  out  in  the  70's;  the  Thorne,  also  requiring 
justification  by  hand,  was  invented  about  1880. 
These  were  the  only  machines  successfully  used 
in  the  United  States  until  1886,  when  the  Lino- 
type was  introduced.  The  Mergenthaler,  or 
Linotype,  is  the  typesetting  machine  generally 
employed  in  this  country ;  among  other  machines 
are  the  Simplex,  the  Bm-r-Kastenbein  or  Empire, 
and  the  Lanston.  Among  the  machines  brought 
out  in  Great  Britain  were  the  Fraser,  the  Hatters- 
ley,  and  the  Mackie. 

Probably  the  first  attempt  to  produce  a  machine 
to  set  ordinary  types  and  justify  them  automati- 
cally was  made  by  Felt,  who  was  granted  a  patent 
in  1867.  The  machine  failed  to  operate  success- 
fully. The  first  successful  machine  to  set,  justify, 
and  distribute  type  automatically  was  the  Paige, 
completed  about  1890.  This  machine  is  not  in 
the  market  because  of  its  great  expense. 

The  typesetting  machine  in  its  simplest  form 
merely  sets  the  type  supplied  by  the  founders;  simplest  form 

^  IT-,  of  typesetting 

spacing  out,  justifying,  makmg-up,  and  distribut-  machine. 
ing  must  all  be  done  by  hand  or  on  other  machines. 


68  TYPESETTING 


In  this  style  of  machine  about  eighty-four  char- 
acters are  employed.  The  types  of  each  character 
are  placed  in  a  brass  channel  about  two  feet  long, 
side  by  side,  and  in  a  vertical  position  before  the 
compositor.  The  machine  is  operated  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  type^Titer:  when  the  compositor 
strikes  a  certain  letter  on  the  key-board,  the  cor- 
responding character  falls  in  position.  This 
machine  can  only  set  types  in  a  continuous  line; 
another  operator  is  required  to  justify  them, 
or  make  them  up  in  lines  of  uniform  length.  The 
McMillan  machine  has  a  mated  justifying  appa- 
ratus, but  the  distributer  is  a  distinct  machine. 
This  machine  was  used  successfully  for  some  time 
in  the  office  of  the  New  York  Sun. 

All  the  simpler  forms  of  t}T)esetting  machines 
have  been  generally  superseded  by  those  in  which 
composition,  casting,  and  distribution  are  com- 
bined in  one  machine. 

The  Lanston  machine,  which  went  into  com- 
machiae^'°°  mercial  use  about  1899,  both  casts  and  sets  indi- 
vidual type.  It  permits  the  free  and  equal  use  of 
all  the  upper  and  lower  case  characters;  these  it 
casts  and  composes  in  justified  lines  by  a  single 
automatic  operation,  which  is  controlled  by  a 
perforated  paper  ribbon,  the  product  of  the  manual 


TYPESETTING  69 


operation  of  the  key-board.  The  composed  matter 
has  the  same  appearance  as  handwork,  except 
that  the  types  are  always  new  and  the  Unes  are 
more  evenly  justified.  Corrections  are  made 
b}'  the  withdrawal  of  the  wrong  character  and 
the  insertion  of  the  right  one;  the  Lanston  ma- 
chine is  therefore  preferred  by  some  authors  for 
book-work,  because  it  permits  the  correction  of 
errors  without  discarding  the  whole  line.  This 
typesetting  machine  is  in  use  in  a  large  number  of 
printing-offices,  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  furnishes  a 
letterpress  equal  to  that  of  the  best  foundry  type. 
The  Mergenthaler,  or  Linotype,  casts  the  letters 

,       .        .^     ,         .  ,  '  ,       .       TheMergen- 

properly  justified,  with  spaces  between  words,  in  thaler  ma- 
solid  bars  of  the  length  of  line  desired.  The  com-  o^ype.' 
positor  dislodges  brass  matrices  instead  of  types, 
and  also  space-bands.  The  latter  are  wedge- 
shaped,  and  are  released,  one  by  one,  at  the  end 
of  each  word.  The  wedges  are  about  three  inches 
long;  the  thin  part  only  at  first  is  inserted,  but 
just  before  the  bar  is  cast,  an  apparatus  is  released 
which  drives  the  whole  series  of  letters  and  space- 
bands  to  just  the  right  pressure  required  to  produce 
the  even  justification  of  the  fine. 

The  matrices  are  then  carried  in  front  of  the 
mould.     The  mould  passes  before  the  pot  contain- 


70  TYPESETTING 


ing  the  molten  metal,  which  is  ejected  through  a 
row  of  holes  into  the  mould.  The  metal  chills  and 
solidifies  immediately,  and  the  casting  is  accom- 
plished without  delaying  the  work  of  the  operator. 
The  cast  line,  or  linotype,  passes  between  knives 
to  be  finished  to  exact  size,  and  is  then  placed  on 
the  galley.  The  matrices  are  at  once  returned  to 
their  channels  in  the  magazine,  and  the  space- 
bands  sUde  back  into  their  box  ready  for  immediate 
use. 

During  composition  on  the  Linotype,  corrections 
can  be  made  by  changing  or  transposing  any  matrix 
in  a  line.  If  a  correction  is  desired  after  the  bar 
is  cast,  the  whole  line  must  be  reset.  The  dis- 
carded bar  is  thrown  into  the  melting-pot;  the 
linotypes  are  also  remelted  after  they  have  served 
their  purpose.  In  operating  the  machine,  as  soon 
as  one  line  is  finished,  the  compositor  starts  another 
fine ;  all  that  he  is  required  to  do  is  to  manipulate 
the  keys  and  start  the  lines. 

The  present  Linotype  is  the  result  of  experi- 
ments begun  in  1876.  In  a  crude  form  it  was 
developed  about  1883,  and  was  put  in  commercial 
use  in  1886.  It  is  employed  in  about  thirteen 
hundred  offices  in  America,  including  both  large 
and  small  newspapers  and  many  book  houses,  such 


TYPESETTING  71 


as  Harper  and  Brothers  and  D.  Appleton  and  Com- 
pany. The  Mergenthaler  machine  is  used  also  by 
most  of  the  leading  newspapers  of  Great  Britain, 
quite  extensively  in  Germany  and  France,  and 
indeed,  to  some  extent,  in  almost  every  part  of 
the  world.  In  the  Boston  Public  Library,  where 
the  Linotype  is  employed  to  produce  card  cata- 
logues, etc.,  twenty-three  languages  are  printed. 

Typesetting  machines  are  employed  chiefly  for 
newspaper  printing  and  for  work  which  must 
be  done  quickly,  but  many  publishers  also  use  them; 
in  quality,  the  product  of  the  machine  is  not 
equal  to  handwork,  although  in  some  instances 
only  an  experienced  eye  could  detect  the  differ- 
ence. The  machine  reduces  the  cost  of  composi- 
tion,— one  of  the  simpler  forms  setting  types  three 
or  four  times  as  fast  as  can  be  done  by  hand, 
and  the  output  of  the  Mergenthaler  being  six  or 
eight  times  greater  than  that  of  the  hand-com- 
positor. It  is  only  by  employing  the  Linotype, 
which  has  so  greatly  cheapened  typesetting,  that 
our  newspapers  can  afford  to  furnish  to  the  pub- 
lic the  vast  amount  of  reading  matter  which  is 
received  daily. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

history  of  the   printing-press 

Early  Presses  of  Wood 

rpHE  simple  press  of  Gutenberg  consisted  of  two 
berg  press.  ^  upright  timbers,  with  crosspieces  of  wood  at  the 
top  and  bottom,  and  two  intermediate  cross-bars. 
It  was  operated  entirely  by  hand.  The  type,  sup- 
ported on  one  of  the  cross-timbers,  was  placed  on 
wooden  or  stone  beds,  in  frames  called  "coffins," 
which  were  laboriously  moved  in  and  out.  After 
the  type  was  inked  and  the  paper  laid,  the  platen^ 
was  forced  down  upon  the  bed  by  means  of  a  large 
screw.  After  each  impression  the  platen  had  to 
be  screwed  up  again,  in  order  that  the  printed 
.  sheet  might  be  removed  and  hung  up  to  dry. 
Only  about  fifty  impressions  could  be  made  in  an 
hour.  The  early  presses  required  two  workmen — 
one  to  ink  the  type,  and  one  to  pull  or  to  print. 

The  Gutenberg  press  continued  in  use  for  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  or  from  the  middle 


iThe  platen  is  the  flat  part  or  "plate"  of  a  hand-press,  which  is 
brought  down  upon  the  form  of  type  to  make  the  impression. 

(72) 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  73 

of  the  fifteenth  century  to  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth. 

About  1620    improvements  were  made  in  the 

„  .  1 .  The  Blaeu 

old  printing-press  by  William  Janson  Blaeu  of  press. 
Amsterdam.  By  a  device  attached  to  the  press, 
the  bed  could  now  be  easily  moved  in  and  out, 
and  a  new  form  of  hand-lever  turned  the  screw. 
This  machine  could  be  made  to  produce  in  ten  hours 
700  sheets,  but  the  average  performance  was  less. 
The  Blaeu  press  contained  about  the  only  im- 
provements made  in  printing-presses  between  the 
time  of  Gutenberg  and  of  Stanhope,  and  was  used 
for  about  a  century  and  a  half.  It  was  introduced 
into  England,  and  is  substantially  the  press  upon 
which  Benjamin  Franklin  worked  during  the  time 
he  spent  in  London,  at  the  beginning  of  his  career. 

Iron  Presses 

Very  little  further  improvement  was  made  in 
the    construction    of    printing-presses    until    the  'lope  press, 
year  1798,  when    the  Earl  of  Stanhope  had  one 
built  entirely  of  iron. 

About  this  time,  paper  began  to  be  provided  in 
larger  sheets,  as  in  1799  Louis  Robert  of  France, 
aided  by  St.  Leger  Didot,  invented  a  machine  for 


74 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS 


The  Franklin 
press. 


Inking-balls. 


The  Colum- 
bian press. 


The  Washing- 
ton press. 


making  it  in  a  continuous  web.  The  Stanhope 
press  printed  on  one  side  of  a  large  sheet  by  one 
impression.  It  lightened  labor,  but  it  did  not  ma- 
terially increase  production. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  Franklin  press  was  introduced.  This  was 
only  a  modification  of  the  Blaeu  press;  it  could 
print  250  impressions  an  hour. 

The  old  presses  were  operated  entirely  by  hand ; 
the  type  was  inked  with  a  pair  of  stuffed  balls 
covered  with  skin.  Until  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  the  bed-and-platen  system  was  the 
favorite  method  for  printing  fine  books  and  illus- 
trations, and  for  that  purpose  it  is  still  employed 
to  a  considerable  extent. 

About  1816  George  Clymer  of  Philadelphia 
designed  a  printing-press  which  dispensed  with 
the  screw.  This  machine  was  used  to  some  ex- 
tent in  England,  under  the  name  of  the  Columbian 
press.  In  1822  Peter  Smith  devised  a  machine 
in  which  a  toggle-joint  was  substituted  for  the 
screw  with  levers. 

The  Washington  Press,  invented  about  1829  by 
Samuel  Rust  of  New  York  is  the  hand-press  in 
general  use  at  the  present  day  in  the  United 
States.     The  platen  is  depressed  by  means  of  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  75 


bent  lever  acting  on  a  toggle-joint,  and  is  lifted 
by  springs  on  either  side.  Automatic  inking- 
rollers  have  been  attached  to  the  press.  This 
machine  is  used  for  taking  proofs  of  woodcuts, 
electrotypes,  line-plates,  and  type  matter  mixed 
with  cuts.  An  extra  strong  pattern  made  by 
Hoe  and  Company  is  employed  for  proving  half- 
tones and  other  plates  requiring  excessive  pressure. 
It  gives  a  clear,  sharp  proof  of  the  full  size  of 
the  platen;  a  good  print  is  obtained  from  the  first 
"pull.". 

Job  or  Treadle-Presses.     Power  Presses 

In  the  line  of  improvements  in  the  art  of  print- 
ing,   America   did    not   lead.     She   watched    the 

experiments  of  foreign  inventors,  imitated  them,   American  ex- 

periments. 

and  m  some  cases  built  upon  them  and  made  great 
advances.  Printing  by  machinery  from  a  rotating 
cylinder  was  made  practicable  in  England  as 
early  as  1814,  and  the  effort  to  quicken  the  bed- 
and-platen  system  was  then  given  up  by  European 
experimenters.  In  America,  however,  the  platen 
movement  was  taken  up  from  a  new  point  of 
departure  and  was  made  successful.  The  first 
improvement  made  by  an  American  was  in  the 
direction  of  treadle-presses. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS 


Treadle- 
presses. 


The  Gordon 
press. 


The  Ruggles 
press. 


About  1820  Daniel  Treadwell  of  Boston  went 
to  England  and  took  out  a  patent  for  a  treadle- 
press.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of 
important  improvements  in  printing-presses.  ■  By 
utilizing  foot-power,  the  hands  were  left  free  to 
feed  the  machine  and  to  take  away  the  printed 
work ;  the  press  could  thus  be  run  by  one  operator. 
The  speed  of  treadle-presses  varies  from  800  to 
1,500  impressions  an  hour,  according  to  the  skill 
of  the  workman.  The  inking  of  the  form  is  auto- 
matic: a  series  of  rollers,  playing  on  a  revolving 
disk,  feeds  the  ink  from  a  reservoir  in  the  back  part 
of  the  machine.  The  later  treadle-presses  have  a 
wheel  attached  for  belt-power,  which  increases 
their  capacity  and  secures  the  steadier  working  of 
the  machine. 

The  Gordon  is  a  small  job-press  which  can  print 
over  1,000  cards  or  small  sheets  an  hour.  The 
inventor,  George  P.  Gordon,  a  printer  of  New 
York,  began  his  experiments  in  1834  or  1835,  but 
did  not  appl}''  for  a  patent  until  1850.  The  Ruggles 
press  was  considered  the  best  of  the  small 
presses;  its  manufacture  began  before  1840. 

About  1824,  after  returning  to  Boston,  Tread- 
well  attempted  to  bring  out  a  power-  or  steam- 
press  on  the   bed-and-platen   principle,   but  his 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  77 

establishment  was  burned,  destroying  his  machine, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  project. 
It  is  said  that  at  least  one  book  was  printed  on 
Treadwell's  press.  About  1830,  Isaac  Adams,  also  The  Adams 
of  Boston,  took  out  a  patent  for  a  press  v/hich  ^'^^" 
embodied  many  of  Treadwell's  ideas.  In  this 
machine  the  platen  was  stationary.  The  bed  of 
type  did  not  move  backward  and  forward  as  in  the 
old  hand-presses;  it  simply  moved  upward  to  press 
against  the  platen,  and  then  down  to  its  former 
place.  Inldng-rollers  passed  between  the  form  and 
the  impression  surface.  The  press  was  afterwards 
enlarged  and  improved,  so  that  it  did  in  one  day 
the  work  of  ten  ordinary  hand-presses  quite  as  well 
as  had  been  done  before.  The  larger  sizes  of  this 
press  have  a  maximum  speed  of  1,000  sheets  an 
hour.  The  Adams  presses  were  favorites  for  more 
than  fifty  years,  and  some  are  still  in  use.  The 
Riverside  Press  employs  a  large  number  of  these 
machines. 

Cylinder  Presses 

The  system  of  printing  from  a  flat  bed  carried 
backward  and  forward  beneath  a  cylinder  was  em-  ^j^g  aat-bed 
ployed  to  some  extent  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury by  printers  of  copperplate  engravings.    When 
this  method  was  introduced  into  typography,  it 


cylinder 
presa. 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS 

worked  a  revolution  in  the  art.  There  are  many 
cylinder  presses,  but  in  all  the  radical  principles 
are  the  same;  the  great  mmiber  of  patents  granted 
have  been  mostly  for  improvements  and  devices  of 
detail.  In  some  the  type  is  on  a  flat  bed  and  the 
cylinder  gives  the  impression;  others  have  two 
cjdinders,  one  holding  the  form  and  the  other 
making  the  impression. 

At  the  present  day  the  greater  number  of  presses 
employed  in  ordinary  book  and  job-work  are  job 
and  cylinder  presses.  The  cylinder  presses  have 
come  into  use  since  1814,  when  the  London 
Times  was  first  printed  by  machinery.  At  that 
time  there  was  a  great  desire  in  England  for  infor- 
mation concerning  the  state  of  Europe,  as  Napoleon 
had  not  yet  been  banished  to  St.  Helena.  More 
newspapers  were  demanded  than  could  be  quickly 
and  promptly  printed.  About  twenty-four  men 
were  required  for  an  issue  of  six  thousand  copies  of 
a  journal,  within  twelve  hours  after  the  copy  was 
set.  Friedrich  Koenig,  who  had  come  to  England 
from  Saxony,  claimed  to  be  able  to  solve  the  diffi- 
culty. After  trying  for  many  years  to  improve  the 
old  method  of  printing  from  two  flat  surfaces,  he 
abandoned  it  entirely,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
some  London  inventors,  among  whom  were  Bensley 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  79 


and  Napier,  he  had  a  machine  built  which  was 
fairly  tested  in  1811/  In  this  press  the  type  was 
placed  on  a  flat  bed.  The  cylinder  which  revolved 
above  it  stopped  three  times :  the  first  third  of  the 
turn  received  the  sheet  upon  one  of  the  tympans^ 
and  secured  it  by  the  frisketf  the  second  made  the 
impression  and  permitted  the  removal  of  the  sheet 
by  hand ;  the  third  returned  the  empty  tympan  for 
another  sheet.  This  machine  was  a  turning  point 
in  the  printing  art,  for  it  showed  the  greater  speed 
and  merit  of  the  cylinder  press. 

Koenig  afterwards  devised  a  continuously  re-  xheKoenig 
volving  cylinder  press;  he  also  designed  a  two-  p'^^^^^- 
cylinder  press  which  printed  one  side  of  the  paper 
at  a  time,  and  a  two-cylinder  press  which  printed 


1  Many  printers  believe  that  Koenig's  success  was  due  to  his  adopt- 
ing the  ideas  of  William  Nicholson,  a  scientific  man  of  the  day. 
Nicholson  had  taken  out  a  patent  for  improvements  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  printing-press,  but  had  put  none  of  them  to  practical  use. 

•  The  tympan  is  a  framed  appliance  hinged  to  the  outer  end  of  the 
bed  of  a  hand-press.  It  receives  the  sheet  to  be  printed  and  com- 
pletely covers  the  bed  when  folded  down  upon  it.  Its  purpose  is  to 
soften  and  equalize  the  pressure  by  means  of  blankets  between  its 
two  parts. 

3  The  frisket  is  a  thin  framework  of  iron  hinged  to  the  top  of  the 
tympan.  A  sheet  of  paper  is  pasted  over  it ;  from  this,  spaces  are  cut 
out  to  permit  contact  between  the  type  and  the  sheet  to  be  printed. 
It  holds  the  printed  sheet  in  place,  and  the  sheet  pasted  upon  it  keeps 
clean  the  parts  not  to  be  printed.  The  frisket  is  folded  down  upon 
the  tympan  and  the  tympan  is  then  folded  on  the  bed ;  this  brings 
the  sheet  down  on  the  face  of  the  form  ready  to  receive  the  im- 
pression. 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  FEIN 'TING- PEESS 


^ 


both  sides  of  the  paper  at  one  operation.  The 
latter  has  received  the  name  of  the  perfecting-press. 
In  this  press  there  were  two  forms  of  type,  one  at 
each  end  of  a  long  bed.  After  the  paper  had  been 
printed  on  one  side  by  one  cyhnder,  it  was  carried 
to  the  other  cylinder  and  printed  on  the  opposite 
side.  The  cyHnder  presses  erected  by  Koenig  in  the 
office  of  the  London  Times,  in  1814,  printed  on  one 
side  of  the  paper  at  the  rate  of  about  1,000  sheets 
an  hour.  His  press  which  printed  on  both  sides  of 
the  paper  could  turn  out  1,500  or  1,800  perfect 
copies  in  an  hour.  There  was  no  further  impor- 
tant advance  in  newspaper  printing  for  many  years. 
The  cylinder  press  M'as  afterwards  simplified 
and  improved  by  other  men,  and  by  1824  the  de- 
sign was  substantially  that  of  the  cylinder  press 
of  the  present  day. 

The  first  cylinder  press  employed  in  the  United 

States  was  made  about  1832  by  Robert  Hoe,  the 

founder  of  the  fii'm  of  R.  Hoe  and  Company.    This 

The  single       ^^^  ^^^  single  large  cyhnder  press.     In  this  ma- 

d^?presi°'     chine  the  cylinder  made  one  revolution  for  each 

impression  and  never  stopped. 

Hoe  and  Company  and  Adams,  who  also  intro- 
duced a  press  about  1830,  made  nearly  aU  the 
printing-presses  used  in  America  for  the  next  thirty 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING- PRESS  81 

years — Hoe  manufacturing  cylinder  presses  and 
Adams  platen  presses. 

The  stop-cylinder  press  was  brought  out  by  a 
Frenchman  named  Dutartre,  in  1852.  It  was  cylinder 
afterwards  introduced  into  the  United  States  and 
improved  in  many  ways.  As  its  name  indicates, 
the  cylinder  is  stopped  and  started  again;  the  type 
is  carried  on  a  fiat  bed.  It  can  print  from  1,000 
to  1,500  impressions  an  hour,  and  the  finest  en- 
gravings at  'the  rate  of  800  impressions  an  hoiu*. 

On  the  cylinder  presses,  only  one  sheet  could 
be  printed  at  each  forward  movement.  A  double 
speed  was  secm-ed  by  having  a  feeder  at  each 
end,  and,  after  one  sheet  had  been  printed,  stop- 
ping and  reversing  the  cylinder,  so  as  to  print 
another  sheet  on  the  return  movement.  Printing 
on  the  retm'n  movement  was  the  method  adopted 
by  Koenig  in  his  improved  press. 

The  Koenig  press,  introduced  in  1814,  was  run 
by  machinery,  but  it  was  extremely  compli- 
cated. It  was  Augustus  Applegath  who  first  ^^  ^^  ^^ 
made  practicable  the  use  of  the  steam-press  for  po^er. 
popular  printing.  The  New  York  Sun  was  the 
first  newspaper  in  America  to  use  steam  instead  of 
man-power;  it  made  the  substitution  soon  after 
the  establishment  of  cheap  newspapers  in  1833. 

6 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE  PEINTING-PRESS 

5  Some  firms  employed   a  horse  or  a  mule,  which 

they  drew  up  in  the  morning  by  tackle  to  an  upper 
story  and  let  down  at  night  in  the  same  way. 

The  early  cylinder  machines  were  used  exclu- 
sively for  newspapers.  They  wore  the  type  badly, 
and  for  this  reason  they  were  not  liked  by  book- 
printers.  The  pressmen  gave  them  the  name  of 
"  type-smashers. "  In  1835  Harper  and  Brothers 
printed  all  their  books  on  hand-presses,  and  as  late 
as  1849,  the  law  books  of  the  firm  of  Banks  and 
Gould  were  printed  on  these  presses,  but  after 
this  the  use  of  the  hand-press  was  discontinued  for 
commercial  book-work  in  New  York  city. 

Rapid  printing  did   not  become   a  possibility 

until  the  introduction  of  cylindrical  inking-roUers 

Composition    ^^^^c  of  glue  and  molasses,  a  compound  which  had 

er^^'^^'*^^^      long  been  used  in  the  potteries  of  Staffordshire. 

It  is  said  that  two  persons,  Forster  and  Harrild, 
first  tested,  by  the  use  of  balls,  the  adaptability 
of  this  material  for  ink-printing ;  the  press-builders 
soon  began  to  cover  their  inldng-cylinders  with  it, 
instead  of  leather  or  india-rubber.  The  dis- 
covery that  this  composition  could  be  used  in- 
stead of  the  balls  took  place  about  1810,  but  it 
was  many  years  before  rollers  were  general!}' 
adopted.     The  Donkin  and  Bacon  machine  built  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  83 

1813  for  the  University  of  Cambridge  (England) 
was  the  first  printing-press  in  the  world  to  discard 
the  ancient  balls  for  the  composition  inking-rollers. 
As  late  as  1835  every  printer's  apprentice  in 
England  learned  the  use  of  the  pelt  balls.  Com- 
position rollers  seem  to  have  been  introduced  into 
New  York  about  1826.  The  chief  ingredients  now 
used  are  glue,  sugar,  and  glycerine. 

Until  1847  the  newspapers  of  the  United 
States  were  printed  on  single  small-cylinder  and 
double-cylinder  machines.  On  the  single  cylinder 
presses,  2,000  impressions  could  be  taken  in  an 
hour;  on  the  two-cylinder,  4,000,  printing,  how- 
ever, on  only  one  side  of  the  paper.  The  demand 
for  papers  containing  the  latest  news  led  to  ex- 
periments in  making  faster  machines,  and  the  out- 
come was  the  tj^pe-revolving  press.  The  actual 
introduction  of  this  press  was  due  to  Richard  M. 
Hoe  of  New  York. 

The  first  Hoe  type-revolving  machine  was  placed 
in  the  ofRce  of  the  Puhlic  Ledger  in  Philadelphia,  revoivufg 
in  1847.  The  distinctive  feature  of  this  new  press  ^^^^^' 
was  the  fastening  of  the  forms  of  type  on  a  central 
cylinder  placed  in  a  horizontal  position.  The  type 
was  held  firmly  in  place,  and  the  cylinder  \\as 
revolved  at  an}^  required  speed  without  danger  of 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  PBINTING-PBESS 

the  type's  falling  out.  Ai'ound  the  central  cylinder, 
from  four  to  ten  impression- cylinders  were  placed, 
according  to  the  amount  of  work  required.  The 
sheets  were  fed  in  by  boys.  The  capacity  was  about 
2,000  sheets  to  each  feeder  an  hour.  A  four-cylinder 
machine  could  thus  print  about  8,000  sheets  an 
hour,  and  with  ten  impression-cylinders  the  ca- 
pacity was  20,000  sheets  an  hour,  in  both  cases 
printing  on  only  one  side  at  a  time.  To  print  the 
other  side  of  the  paper,  a  second  rotary  press  was 
needed,  and  the  foldingwas  done  bythe  old  method. 

Although  it  did  not  overcome  all  difficulties, 
this  machine  effected  a  revolution  in  newspaper 
printing.  The  circulation  of  the  old  papers  was 
greatly  increased,  and  many  new  journals  came 
into  existence.  The  first  Hoe  press  used  in  Europe 
was  erected  in  the  office  of  La  Patrie  in  Paris,  in 
1848.  Augustus  Applegath,  an  Englishman,  de- 
vised a  machine  of  the  same  nature  as  the  Hoe 
press,  but  with  a  vertical  instead  of  a  horizontal 
cylinder.  The  Hoe  press  preceded  this  machine 
by  several  months.  The  London  Times  finally 
discarded  the  Applegath  presses  and  substituted 
those  made  by  Hoe. 

A  still  further  advance  was  made  by  the  intro- 
piYtes.  duction  of  stereotype  plates  on  a  curve.     For  fine 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  85 

work,  such  as  the  illustrations  of  magazines  and 
some  color-plates  in  newspapers,  electrotypes  are 
used,  as  they  give  a  clearer  impression  and  are  more 
durable  than  stereotypes;  but  for  ordinary  news- 
paper printing,  a  curved  stereotype  plate  is  made 
for  each  page.  The  page  is  first  set  by  the  linotype, 
then  a  mould  in  papier-mache  is  taken  of  the  type. 
These  moulds,  when  dried,  are  put  into  the  casting- 
box  and  filled  with  melted  metal.  By  the  Hoe 
machines,  a  matrix  and  four  stereotype  plates  can 
be  made  in  seven  minutes ;  the  plates  are  moulded 
and  cast  with  a  curved  surface  which  fits  them  to 
the  cylinder.  By  duplicating  the  forms,  several 
presses  can  be  run  at  the  same  time. 

Since  about  1860  stereotype  plates  made  by  the 
papier-mach^  process  have  been  largely  employed 
by  the  newspapers  of  both  England  and  the  United 
States. 

About  1835  Sir  Rowland  Hill  conceived  the  idea 
of  a  press  which  should  print  both  sides  at  once 

^  ^  The  contin- 

from  a  roll  of  paper.  In  the  first  World's  Fair  uousweb. 
held  in  London  in  1850,  Thomas  Nelson  of  Edin- 
burgh exhibited  a  little  cylinder  press,  which 
demonstrated  the  possibility  of  printing  at  one 
operation  both  sides  of  an  endless  roll  of  paper. 
It  was  regarded  by  the  public  and  also  by  Nelson 


86  HISTORY  OF  TEE  PBINTING-PRESS 

as  nothing  more  than  a  mechanical  toy.  European 
press-builders  failed  to  utilize  the  principle,  but 
it  was  developed  and  put  into  practical  operation 
in  the  United  States.  The  first  machine  to  print 
The  Bullock  on  both  sides  of  a  continuous  web  was  construct- 
'^'"^'''  ed    in    1865  by  William    Bullock,  of   Pittsburg, 

Pennsylvania.  The  Cincinnati  Times  used  the 
first  press  built  in  his  shops;  the  roll  contained 
five  or  six  miles  of  linear  measurement.  As  at 
first  constructed,  this  press  was  unreliable,  especi- 
ally in  the  delivery  of  the  papers,  but  it  was 
afterwards  improved  and  v/as  used  to  a  consider- 
able extent.  It  printed  ten  thousand  newspapers 
an  hour,  without  the  assistance  of  feeders. 

About    1868    the    proprietors    of    the    I/ondon 
press.  Times  built  a  rotary  perfecting-press.     This  was 

similar  in  construction  to  the  Bullock  press,  except 
that  the  cylinders  were  all  of  one  size  and  were 
placed  one  above  the  other.  A  press  on  the  same 
principle  was  also  devised  by  Marino ni  of  Paris. 

Several  difficulties  were  encountered  in  the  con- 
struction   of    rotary    perfecting-presses    to    print 
from  a  single  roll  or  continuous  web  of  paper,  and 
these  were  not  overcome  until  1871,  when  the  Hoe 
The  Hoe  web-  web  press  was  devised.     The  first  press  of  this  kind 
press.^  "^^       was  placed  in  the  office  of  Lloyd's  Weekly  London 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  87 


Newspaper,  and  the  first  in  the  United  States  in 
the  Tribune  office  in  New  York.  The  Hoe  ma- 
chines are  used  by  most  of  the  large  newspaper 
offices  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

Hoe  and  Company  continued  their  experiments, 
and  produced  the  Double-supplement,  the  Quad- 
ruple, the  Sextuple,  and  the  Octuple  press.  They 
consist  of  a  multiplication  of  cylinders  and  plates, 
while  the  general  principles  remain  the  same. 

Hand  folding-machines  were  for  a  long  time  Automatic 
used  in  newspaper  offices,  but  it  was  highly  desir-  °  ^^' 
able  that  the  press  should  deliver  the  papers  folded. 
Folders  were  attached  to  the  fast  presses,  but  the 
output  was  not  more  than  8,000  an  hour.  A 
rotating  folding-cyhnder  was  patented  by  Hoe  and 
Company  in  1875;  this  folded  papers  at  the  rate 
of  15,000  an  hour.  These  folding-cylinders  were 
first  placed  on  presses  built  for  the  Philadelphia 
Times,  and  were  operated  in  the  Centennial  Ex- 
hibition of  1876. 

Hoe    and    Company    have    also    built    rotary 
presses    for    illustrated    work.     In    1886    a   per-  presses  for 
fecting-press   was   constructed   for    Theodore    Ij.  work. 
De   Vinne,    of    The   Centunj   Magazirie,  to   print 
the  plain  forms  of  that  periodical.     This  magazine 
is  printed  on  two  kinds  of  rotary  presses.     The 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS 

plain  forms,  without  cuts,  and  the  advertisements 
are  printed  from  an  endless  roll  of  paper,  on  sixty- 
four  curved  electrotype  plates,  fastened  on  two 
cylinders.  The  paper  is  printed  on  two  sides, 
thirty-two  pages  to  a  side,  and  is  cut  and  folded 
ready  for  the  binders.  On  the  other  press,  at 
each  revolution,  sixty-foiu*  pages,  largely  of  the 
finest  illustrations,  are  printed  on  one  cylinder, 
necessarily  on  one  side  only.  To  preserve  full  black- 
ness and  fineness  of  line,  in  the  full-page  illustra- 
tions the  second  side  is  not  printed  until  the  first 
side  is  dry.  The  illustrations  are  printed  with  the 
type,  always  in  black  ink.  Hoe  and  Company  have 
built  for  the  Century  a  machine  that  wiU  print 
two  colors  at  each  revolution.  The  fine  colored 
illustrations  which  appear  in  the  November  and 
December  niunbers  of  this  magazine  are  printed 
on  flat-bed  presses  with  the  stop-cylinder  move- 
ment. 

Among  other  fast  printing-machines  which  do 
good  work  are  the  Cottrell,  the  Miehle,  and  the 
presses.  Qoss.     The  Cottrell  presses  comprise  a  variety  of 

types, — a  lithographic  press,  a  stop-cylinder,  a 
two-revolution,  a  flat-bed  perfecting,  and  a  web 
press.  The  Flat-bed  Perfecting  press  f  irints  on  the 
second  side  of  a  sheet  already  carrying  half-tone 


The  Cottrell 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  89 

pictures  on  the  first.  "Offset,"  or  smirching,  is 
])revented  by  means  of  the  shifting  tympan  mecha- 
nism which  unwinds  from  a  manila  roll  sufficient 
paper  to  cover  the  impression  surface.  After  the 
mechanism  is  set,  the  tympan  makes  the  changes 
automatically  at  stated  intervals,  according  to 
the  length  of  time  the  offset  roll  is  needed. 
The  large  editions  of  many  illustrated  papers  and 
magazines  are  printed  on  the  Cottrell  Rotary 
Machine,  which  gives  the  impression  on  both 
sides  of  a  web  of  paper  at  one  operation,  and 
cuts  off  the  sheets,  folds  and  trims  them,  ready 
for  binding.  This  press  is  adapted  to  fine  illus- 
trated work  in  one  or  more  colors.  On  the 
Cottrell  presses  the  Curtis  Publishing  Company 
issues  every  month  950,000  copies  of  one  of  its 
periodicals,  and  every  week  340,000  copies  of 
another  journal.  The  weekly  editions  of  other 
magazines  sometimes  reach  500,000.  For  pages 
containing  fine  illustrations,  presses  are  not  run  at 
the  speed    Avith    which    newspapers   are  printed. 

The_Miehle  jpresses  are  built  for  book  and  job-  xheMieWe 
work,  and  also  for  newspaper  printing,  and  have 
remarkable  speed. 

The  present  tendency  in  press-building  seems  to 
be  towards  greater  compactness  and  directness. 


press. 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS 

The  Goss  The  Goss,  which  is  a  straight-line  machine,  prints 
from  four  separate  rolls  of  paper;  the  sheets  issue 
in  parallel  lines,  and  are  united,  after  cutting,  in 
folded  papers. 

Rotary  presses   have   proved    indispensable   in 


newspaper  offices,  where  only  one  size  of  paper-isL., 
used  and  where  a  large  edition  must  be  printed  in 
Presses  for       a  short  time.     For  book  and  job-work,  in  which 

book-work. 

many  sizes  of  paper  are  required  because  of  the 
different  sizes  and  numbers  of  pages,  much  of  the 
printing  is  done  on  flat-bed  machines,  some  of 
which  are  perfecting  presses  with  shifting  tym- 
pans.  Many  books,  pamphlets,  and  illustrated 
periodicals,  however,  are  printed  on  the  Hoe 
Electrotype  Rotary  Perfecting  Press,  which,  as  its 
name  indicates,  gives  the  impression  on  both  sides 
of  the  sheet  at  one  operation. 

Printing  by  At  the  present  time  an  effort  is  being  made  in 
eec  nci  >.  England,  to  introduce  a  system  of  printing^  from 
types  by  the  electrochemical  process,  which  dis- 
penses with  the  use  of  ink.  Mr.  Friese  Greene, 
a  London  photographer,  has  produced  an  electro- 
graphic  paper,  and  a  syndicate  in   London  has 

1  An  account  of  this  system  is  given  in  the  supplement  to  the  New 
York  Tribune  of  February  11th,  1900 ;  also  in  the  Scientific  American  of 
November  24th,  1900. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINTING-PRESS  91 

been  engaged  for  a  year  or  more  in  perfecting  the 
process.  The  experiments  seem  to  have  yielded 
satisfactory  results,  and  the  syndicate  is  now 
demonstrating  the  workings  of  the  new  system. 
Several  of  the  great  London  dailies  have  placed 
their  plants  at  the  disposal  of  the  syndicate  for  a 
complete  test  of  the  process. 

The  materials  with  which  the  paper  is  sensitized 
are  mixed  with  the  pnlp  in  the  process  of  manu- 
facture. The  electricity  flows  through  the  paper 
from  the  face  of  the  type,  and  the  chemicals  con- 
tained are  turned  black.  The  paper  is  said  to  be 
unaffected  by  any  other  agent  than  the  electric 
current;  it  may  be  kept  for  any  length  of  time, 
and  sent  to  the  press  directly  from  the  roll  as 
manufactured;  it  yields  instantly  a  deep  black, 
permanent  impression,  and  is  ready  for  distribu- 
tion immediately,  as  no  drying  is  required. 

An  ordinary  printing-press  is  used,  divested  of 
its  inking  mechanism,  and  having  the  cylinder 
which  carries  the  paper  covered  with  a  suitable 
conducting  metal. 

The  intensity  of  shade  is  regulated  by  the  degree 
of  influence  exerted  on  the  paper;  this  influence  is 
proportional  to  the  amount  of  electricity  passing 
through  the  paper. 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  PBINTING-PBESS 

It  is  claimed  that  the  cost  of  the  current 
for  the  actual  printing  is  much  less  than  that 
of  ink,  also  that  the  power  necessary  to  drive 
the  press  is  diminished,  and  that  there  is  a  saving  of 
at  least  one-third  in  the  original  cost  of  the  press. 

The  new  process  is  said  to  lend  itself  to  all 
speeds,  even  to  that  of  the  fastest  web-press. 
The  w^ork  is  considered  perfect  in  every  particular. 

As  these  sheets  pass  the  press,  an  account  is 
published  of  an  experiment  in  printing  by  the 
photographic  process,  which,  if  successful,  will  do 
away  with  movable  types.  The  originator  of  the 
idea  believes  that  if  pictures  can  be  multiplied  by 
photography,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  text 
should  not  be  reproduced  by  the  same  method. 

A  machine,  which  is  substituted  for  the  lino- 
type, sets  up  lettered  cards  in  the  rack  according  to 
copy  and  photographs  them,  one  line  at  a  time; 
the  glass  sensitive-plate  moves  automatically  and 
takes  the  matter  line  by  line  until  it  is  all  set  up. 
The  negative  is  developed  in  the  usual  mamicr. 
After  the  plate  is  etched  it  is  read}^  for  the  press, 
and  is  printed  in  the  same  manner  as  a  line-plate 
is  printed  at  the  present  time.  It  is  said  that 
within   thirty   minutes    after   the    first  exposure 


HISTORY  OF  TEE  PRINTING-PRESS  93 

of  the  negative  the  zinc  plate  is  ready  to  go  to 
press. 

A  fact  of  great  imjoortance,  as  regards  the  cost  of 
printing,  is  that  one  set  of  letters  is  to  serve  for  all 
sizes  of  type.  The  distance  of  the  camera  from  the 
letters  determines  the  size  of  the  text  as  it  is  to 
appear  in  the  finished  work. 

If  the  discovery  can  be  put  to  practical  use,  the 
saving  in  the  cost  of  printing  materials  will  be 
almost  beyond  computation,  as  in  place  of  the  ex- 
pensive stock  of  type  the  pubhsher  is  now  obliged 
to  carry,  he  will  need  only  a  few  photographic 
machines  and  the  lettered  cards  which  can  be 
kept  in  small  space. 

These  two  systems  are,  of  course,  still  in  their 
infancy,  but  if  proved  to  be  of  real  advantage  they 
will  work  another  revolution  in  the  art  of  printing. 


CHAPTER  IX 

NEWSPAPER   PRINTING 

ASIDE  from  its  general  framework,  a  newspaper 
live  pruuesses  press  consists  of  the  apparatus  for  the  feed- 

in  the  print- 
ing of  a  news-  ing-in  of  the  paper,  the  ink-fountams  or  troughs,  the 

paper.  ^  .  ...  ^      ' 

rollers  and  cylinders  for  distributing  and  trans- 
ferring the  ink,  the  cylinders  carrying  the  stereo- 
type and  the  electrotype  plates,  the  impression- 
C3'linders,  the  paste-fountain,  the  folder,  and  some 
minor  appliances. 

,  The  paper  from  which  newspapers  are  printed  is 
made  in  long  webs  or  rolls,  var3dng  in  length  from 
three  to  nine  miles,  and  is  prepared  at  special  mills. 
Each  roll  is  made  upon  an  iron  core,  which  forms 
the  hub  through  vrhich  a  metal  axle  is  passed. 
This  roll  or  wheel  of  paper  is  placed  at  one  end  of 
the  press  just  above  the  jfloor,  and  the  end  of  the 
sheet  is  led  between  the  cylinders;  when  the 
•J,  machiner}'  starts  the  paper  unwinds  as  fast  as  it 
is  needed.  These  long  rolls  are  sometimes  uneven, 
varying  in  tenacity  or  being  more  tightly  woimd 
in  some  places  than  in  others;  the  result  is  that 
the  paper  snaps  in  two  and  necessitates  the 
stopping  of  the  press.  This  difficulty  is  overcome 
(94) 


NEWSPAPER  PRINTING  95 

either  by  tension  springs,  which  permit  the  sheet 
automatically  to  adjust  itself  to  all  conditions,  or 
by  an  endless  belt  which  rests^on  top  of  the  paper 
and  pushes  it  along  at  a  speed  equal  to  and  some- 
times greater  than  that  of  the  plate-cylinders. 

The  receptacle  for  the  ink,  known  as  the  ink- 
fountain,  is  a  trough  located  almost  directly  over 
the  web  of  paper.  A  system  of  rollers  and  cylin- 
ders distributes  and  transfers  the  ink  from  one 
to  another  until  it  is  apphed  evenly  to  the  surface 
of  the  stereotype  or  the  electrotype  plates. 

Each  plate-cylinder  is  in  contact  with  a  blanket- 
covered  cylinder,  and  by  passing  between  these 
the  continuous  web  of  paper  receives  the  impression. 
The  paper  is  drawn  between  two  pairs  of  cylinders, 
one  pair  giving  the  impression  for  one  side,  and  the 
other  the  impression  for  the  other  side.  The  web 
is  then  carried  up  to  the  top  of  the  machine  and  is 
cut  in  two  lengthwise,  or  between  the  newspapers, 
so  as  to  free  one  from  the  other.  These  sec- 
tions are  passed  over  the  angle-bars,  which  switch 
one  directly  over  the  other,  so  that  they  may 
enter  the  folder  in  their  proper  order.  By  pass- 
ing over  a  triangular  metal  piece,  called  the 
"former,"  they  receive  a  fold  the  length  of  the 
paper;  they   are  then   cut   crosswise  and  folded 


96  NEWSPAPER  PRINTING 

almost  simultaneously,  the  second  fold,  in  the 
^  middle,  lea^dng  the  paper  just  as  it  is  commonly- 
sold  by  the  news-dealers.  The  papers  are  counted 
automatically,  in  lots  of  twenty-fives,  fifties,  or 
hundreds,  every  twenty-fifth,  fiftieth,  or  one- 
hundredth  paper,  being  thrown  out  a  few  inches 
in  advance  of  the  others,  so  as  to  make  a  sharply 
defined  line  in  the  pile.  Some  newspapers  are 
pasted  at  the  back  by  an  appliance  on  the 
press ;  others  are  issued  without  being  pasted. 

The  Improved  Double  Quadruple  Combination 
Octuple  Press  is  the  latest  newspaper  perfecting 
press  designed  by  Hoe  and  Company;  they  are  now 
building  a  number  of  this  type  for  the  Chicago 
Tribune.  For  ordinary  black  work,  this  press  can 
print,  cut,  paste,  fold,  count,  and  deliver,  in  an 
The  output  of  hour,  24,000  papers  of  eighteen,  tvv'enty,  twenty- 

thG  l3>t6St  SOG 

newspaper        twO,  Or  tweuty-four  pages ;  48,000  of  twelve,  four- 
web-perfect-  '  J  f   b      y        )  ; 

ing press.  teen,  or  sixteen  pages;  72,000  of  ten  pages;  and 
96,000  of  four,  six,  or  eight  pages.  When  print- 
ing twelve  pages,  the  press  can  issue  60,000  papers 
an  hour:  48,000  in  book  form  and  12,000  composed 
of  two  six-page  sections  laid  on  each  other  and 
delivered  folded  together.  This  method  is  called 
"collecting"  twelve-page  papers. 

When  printing  colored  plates,  this  machine  can 
produce  in  an  hour  96,000  four-page  papers,  with 


NEWSPAPER  PRINTING  97 

all  the  pages  in  two  colors;  or  48,000  six  or  eight- 
page  papers,  all  inset,^  with  all  the  pages  in  two 
colors. 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  printing-machines  of 
this  design  that  has  been  constructed,  up  to  the 
present  time,  for  newspaper  work. 

Some  of  the  leading  newspapers  issue  supple- 
ments with  colored  pictures.     The  plates  for  the  ing!'^"^ 
different  colors  are  placed  upon  separate  cylinders, 
opposite  to  each  of  which  is  attached  an  impression- 
cylinder. 

The  large  newspaper  offices  which  issue  sup- 
plements with  colored  illustrations,  have  two 
distinct  styles  of  presses,  one  being  used  for 
ordinary  newspaper  work  in  black  only,  or  having 
some  color-attachments  added  in  a  manner  which 
permits  the  work  to  be  done  in  a  short  space  of  time 
— an  essential  feature  for  a  daily.  On  this  press, 
the  color  work  is  printed  from  stereotype  plates, 
against  soft  felt  blankets,  and  the  printing  is  done 
on  the  web  of  paper  without  any  preparation,  ex- 
cept the  proper  placing  of  the  plates  on  the  cjdin- 

1  In  newspaper  work,  inserted  or  "  inset "  means  that  the  sheets  are 
delivered  folded  one  inside  the  other,  as  the  sheets  are  arranged  in  a 
quire  of  writing-paper,  but  not  necessarily  pasted,  although  this  is 
generally  done.  When  the  sheets  are  not  all  placed  one  inside 
tlie  other,  but  the  sections  are  laid  one  on  top  of  the  other,  full- 
page  size,  and  then  folded  together  to  half -page  size,  the  method  is 
called  "  collecting." 

7 


98  NEWSPAPER  PRINTING 

ders,  so  that  the   colors  will   be  printed  in  their 
respective  places  according  to  the  design. 

The  other  press  is  the  Electrotype  Multi-Color 
tyt)e  muiti-  Machine,  and  is  used  to  produce  the  best  class  of 
color  and  half-tone  work  for  Sunday  magazines, 
comic,  and  music  sheets.  This  press  prints  from 
electrotype  plates,  against  a  very  hard  surface  on 
the  impression  cylinder,  called  hard-packing, 
which  shows  up  all  the  imperfections  of  the 
plate.  These  imperfections  have  to  be  equalized 
"Overlay"  ^^^  ovcrcomc  by  processes  called  "overlaying" 
rea^dy™*"^"^  and  "making  ready";  an  "overlay",  paper  is 
placed  over  a  plate  to  bring  out  the  solids, 
middle  tones,  and  different  shades  that  go  to 
make  a  perfect  picture;  on  the  amount  of  time 
spent  on  this  preliminary  work  and  the  fineness 
with  which  it  is  done  depends  the  quality  of  the 
printing  when  the  press  is  started.  Some  of  the 
leading  journals  of  New  York  City  have  presses 
of  this  description,  printing  automatically  as 
many  as  eleven  colors  at  one  operation.  The 
whole  eleven  colors  can  be  printed  on  one  double- 
width  web  of  paper,  i.  e.  a  roll  the  width  of  four 
newspaper  pages,  giving  five  colors  on  one  side 
and  six  colors  on  the  other  side  of  the  web ;  or  the 
eleven  colors  can  be  printed  on  two  double-width, 


NEWSPAPER  PRINTING  99 

or  four-page,  v.ebs.  In.  the  latter  case  one  web 
is  printed  in  four  colors  on  one  side  and  two 
colors  on  the  other  side;  the  other  web  in  two 
colors  and  three  colors;  these  webs,  when  the 
sheets  are  cut  apart,  brought  together  and  folded, 
make  a  publication  of  from  eight  to  thirty-two 
pages,  with  all  the  pages  in  either  two,  three,  or 
four  colors.  The  papers  are  printed  at  a  running 
speed  of  16,000  to  24,000  copies  an  hoiu",  or  as 
many  as  48,000  for  the  lesser  nimiber  of  pages. 

The  output  of  9G,000  eight-page  or  48,000  six- 
teen-page papers  an  hour,  with  part  printed  in 
four  colors  in  a  fine  manner,  is  equal  to  an  issue 
of  270  papers  of  eight  pages,  or  145  sixteen- 
page  papers,  per  second. 

The  Electrotype  Multi-Color  Press,  as  stated, 
has  eleven  pairs  of  cylinders,  or  couples,  each 
couple  consisting  of  one  plate-  and  one  impression- 
cylinder.  Each  pair  has  its  own  ink-fountain  and 
numerous  ink  and  distributing-rollers  for  the 
different  inks.  The  paper  passes  from  one  couple 
of  c}dinders  to  the  other  to  receive  the  various 
colors.  Before  the  press  is  stai'ted  on  its  regular 
run  for  producing  the  editions,  which  sometimes 
amount  to  as  many  as  800,000  copies  for  one 
week's    issue,  a   proof    of    each  color    is    taken 


100  NEWSPAPER  PBINTINO 

separatel}^  to  discover  the  imperfections  of  the 
plates;  these  defects  are  overcome  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  "overlaying"  and  "making  ready," 
already  mentioned. 

Another   reason    for  proving  each  color   is  to 

The  register 

of  the  colors,  get  the  "register,"  which  means  so  arrangmg  the 
plates  on  the  cylinders  that  each  color  will  be 
printed  in  its  proper  place.  The  secondary  colors 
are  produced  by  printing  one  primary  color  over 
another.  A  plate  which  receives  a  primary 
color  that  is  to  appear  in  an  illustration  prints 
the  same  color  where  it  is  to  be  the  base  of 
a  secondary  color;  thus,  a  plate  taking  red  and 
printing  red  as  a  primary  also  takes  and  prints 
red  as  the  base  of  orange ;  a  plate  taking  blue  as 
a  primaiy  receives  also  the  blue  as  the  base  of 
purple.  The  colors  are  printed  first;  the  black, 
called  the  "key-plate,"  is  printed  last,  and  all 
the  colors  must  register  within  the  outlines  c-.i 
the  ke3''-plate. 

The  ink  contains  chemicals,  called  driers, 
which  cause  it  to  dry  immediately,  one  color  being 
ciuite  dry,  through  the  presence  of  the  chemicals 
and  the  absorption  of  the  paper,  before  the  web 
passes  to  another  pair  of  printing  cylinders. 
When  a  sheet  or  web  is  printed  on  both  sides,  an 


The  driers. 


NEWSPAPER  PRINTING  101 

"offset"  sheet  or  web  of  paper  runs  with  the 
paper  which  is  printed  and  takes  off  the  surpKis 
ink.  When  the  colors  are  printed  on  one  side 
only  the  "offset"  web  is  not  needed. 

The  flow  of  ink  is  regulated  by  a  large  number  of 
screws,  set  about  two  inches  apart.  These  govern  ^fe^fljf^^of 
the  pressure  of  a  knife-blade  against  a  roller  which  ^'^^• 
revolves  in  a  fountain  filled  with  ink,  allowing  either 
more  or  less  to  feed  forward  to  the  inking  rollers, 
which,  in  turn,  give  it  to  the  printing-plates.  The 
screws  are  operated  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
tension  screw  of  a  sewing-machine. 

The  Electrotype  Multi-Color  Press  is  35  feet 
long,  17  feet  high,  10  feet  wide,  and  weighs  100 
tons.  It  consists  of  over  200,000  separate  pieces 
and  requires  50  horse-power  to  keep  it  in  motion. 

Another  style  of  press,  which  is  the  largest  in 
the  world,  is  the  Combination  Octuple  and  Multi- 
Color  Machine,   which  consists  of  a  regular  sex-  nation  octu- 
tuple   newspaper  press  with  a  full  five-cylinder  coio? 

.  ,  machine. 

multi-color  press  on  top  and  workmg  m  conjunc- 
tion with  it,  the  upper  portion  printing  from 
electrotype  plates,  the  lower  section  from  stereo- 
types, thus  producing  an  ordinary  newspaper 
product  with  a  fine  cover  section.  This  press 
carries  four  rolls  of  paper,  each  the  width  of  four 


azmes. 


102  NEWSPAPER  PRINTING 

cames  four  rolls  of  paper,  each  the  width  of  four 
newspaper  pages  and  weighing  from  1500  to  1800 
pounds  each. 

The  fine  colored  plates  which  illustrate  cer- 
ofSem^ag-  *^^^  numbers  of  some  magazines  are  printed  on 
the  same  kind  of  presses  that  is  employed  to  a 
great  extent  for  book-work — flat-bed  presses  with 
the  stop-C3dinder  movement.  These  colored  illus- 
trations are  produced  at  the  rate  of  800  impres- 
sions an  hour  for  each  separate  color.  The  merit 
of  a  colored  illustration  begins  with  the  de- 
sign and  its  adaptabilitj^  to  color.  If  the  design  is 
not  good  and  adaptable,  it  will  not  make  a  good 
print.  The  dissection  of  a  colored  sketch  requires 
an  artist  of  great  ability  and  experience.  He  must 
know  (not  guess)  how  much  or  little  color  to  put 
on  each  plate;  he  must  understand  the  proper 
sequence  of  overlapping  colors.  That  done,  the 
printing  of  the  plates  is  comparatively  simple  work. 
These  mammoth  presses  possess  a  wonderful 
fascination  when  running  at  full  speed.  To  watch 
the  paper  enter  the  machine  simply  as  a  blank  roll, 
fly  swiftly  from  cylinder  to  cylinder  to  receive  the 
impressions  of  stereotypes,  electrotypes,  and  half- 
tones, in  black  and  in  color,  separate  into  news- 
papers under  the  action  of  the  knife,  again  divide 
into   sections,   and    issue   from  the  press  neatly 


NEWSPAPER  PRINTING.  103 

folded  and  counted,  ready  for  delivery,  gives  one 
the  impression  of  a  force  not  only  wonderful 
but  superhuman.  One  marvels  at  the  in- 
ventive skill  which  has  achieved  this  mechanical 
triumph  and  which  holds  within  itself  the  power 
to  further  the  march  of  civilization  by  aiding  in 
the  dissemination  of  knowledge  among  the  people. 
In  the  large  newspaper  offices  every  arrangement 
is  made  for  performing  each  step  of  the  work 
with  the  greatest  possible  speed  and  also  for  f  m'nish-  Arrange- 
ing  the  most  recent  news  even  up  to  the  last  few  furnishing 
minutes.  A  button  is  turned,  a  red  light  flashes 
through  the  pressroom,  and  the  rapidly-flying 
cylinders  stop  immediately;  a  green  light  shows, 
and  the  pressmen  are  ready  to  take  up  important 
news.  When  games  and  races  are  being  held,  a 
man  seated  alongside  the  press  is  in  direct  commu- 
nication with  the  scene  of  action  by  telegraph  and 
by  telephone.  "Crawford  wins,"  flashes  over  the 
wire.  "Crawford  wins!"  cries  the  operator  to  a 
workman  seated  on  the  press.  The  words  are 
instantly  set  and  inserted,  and  in  a  few  seconds 
they  appear  in  the  finished  paper.  Within  three 
minutes  after  a  game  ends,  two  of  the  leading 
dailies  of  New  York  sell  on  the  streets  papers 
announcing  the  result. 


KEPEODUCTIVE  PROCESSES 


(106) 


KEPEODUCTIVE  PROCESSES 


CHAPTER  I 

STEREOTYPING    AND     ELECTROTYPING 

HTEREOTYPES  are  plates  of  type-metal  and 
^  are  made  by  casting;  electrotypes  are  pro- 
duced by  galvanic  action. 

Stereotyping  and  electrotyping  have  proved  a 
source  of  great  economy  to  both  the  printer  and 
the  publisher.  Before  the  discovery  of  these  pro- 
cesses, a  work  to  be  printed  as  occasion  required 
had  to  be  kept  standing  in  type  or  else  reset  for 
each  edition.  By  electrotyping  the  forms,  only 
a  small  nimiber  of  the  first  edition  need  be  printed, 
as  additional  copies  can  be  taken  off  at  any  time. 
The  plates  occupy  much  less  space  than  type 
matter  kept  in  form,  and  can  easily  be  stored 
away  for  future  use.  The  printer's  type  is  re- 
leased for  other  work,  which  in  itself  is  a  decided 
advantage.  These  two  processes  also  save  wear  of 
the  original  type  or  cut.  Electrotypes  have 
superseded  stereotypes  for  book  and  magazine 
work,  as  they  give  a  clearer  impression  and  are 
more  durable. 

(107) 


108       STEREOTYPING  AND  ELECTROTYPING 

Three  methods  of  stereotyping  are  known, — the 
stereotyping,  plaster,  the  clay,  and  the  papier-mache.  Only 
the  last  is  now  much  employed. 

The  process  of  casting  type-metal  in  moulds  of 
procesr*^'^  plaster-of-paris  was  discovered  by  William  Ged,  a 
goldsmith  of  Edinburgh,  who  began  his  experi- 
ments about  1725.  His  method  proved  successful, 
but  he  could  not  get  the  printers  to  use  his  plates. 
Numerous  experiments  followed,  but  all  other 
methods  were  superseded  by  that  of  the  Earl  of 
Stanhope,  which  was  introduced  about  1804.  The 
plaster  process  served  for  types  on  book-work  for 
about  fifty  years,  but  it  was  unsuitable  for  engrav- 
ings, and  was  found  too  slow  for  daily  newspapers. 

The  first  work  stereotyped  in  America  was 
the  Westminster  Catechism,  produced  in  New 
York,  by  John  Watts,  in  1813.  V/atts,  however, 
sold  out  and  went  to  Austria  in  1816.  The  actual 
introduction  of  the  art  in  America  was  due 
to  David  Bruce,  one  of  the  two  brothers  who 
afterwards  established  the  type-foundry  known 
by  that  name.  In  1813  Bruce  returned  from 
England,  where  he  had  been  endeavoring  to  study 
the  methods  of  Lord  Stanhope;  he  began  his 
experiments,  and  in  1814  succeeded  in  casting 
plates  for  the  New  Testament. 


STEREOTYPING  AND  ELECTBOTYPING      109 

The  papier-mach6  process  was  discovered  by 
Genoux  of  France,  in  1829,  and  was  introduced 
into  Great  Britain  in  1832. 

la  the  papier-mach6  process,  a  paper  matrix  is  The  papier- 
first  made  of  the  page  of  type  by  machinery.  The  ^|^  ^'^°" 
material  for  the  matrix  is  formed  by  pasting 
together  layers  of  thick  misized  paper  and  tissue 
paper,  each  layer  being  carefully  rolled  smooth  with 
a  heavy  iron  roller.  The  matrix  is  dried  by  steam- 
heat;  to  expel  any  remaining  moisture,  it  is  ex- 
posed for  half  a  minute,  either  in  an  oven  or  to 
the  flame  of  a  gas-jet.  After  the  edges  are  trimmed, 
the  matrix  is  placed  in  the  casting-box  and  filled 
with  melted  metal.  On  being  removed  from  the 
casting-box,  the  superfluous  metal  is  cut  off  from 
the  plate,  which  is  then  trimmed  b)''  hand,  and 
shaved  on  the  reverse  side  until  it  is  brought  to 
the  exact  thickness  required.  These  operations 
are  performed  by  machinery. 

The  papier-mach^  process  is  more  expeditious 
than  any  other  method.  By  the  Hoe  machine 
a  matrix  and  four  stereotype  plates  can  be  made 
in  seven  minutes;  it  is  possible  to  cast  a  plate  a 
minute  after  the  matrix  is  made.  Curved  plates 
can  be  made  as  easily  as  flat,  and  as  many  as 
forty  plates  can  be  cast  from  the  same  matrix. 


110      STEREOTYPING  AND  ELECTROTYPING 


Electrotypes. 


The  process 
of  electro- 
typing. 


This  process  has  been  adopted  by  all  large  daily 
newspapers. 

Electrotypes  are  plates  produced  by  means  of 
electricity;  they  are  made  from  type,  woodcuts, 
and  engraved  plates.  The  process  of  causing  one 
metal  to  be  deposited  on  another  by  galvanic  ac- 
tion is  not  new,  but  the  electro  typing  of  type,  wood- 
cuts, and  plates  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  An 
engraving  made  by  this  method  appeared  in  the 
London  Journal  for  April,  1840.  In  America 
Joseph  A.  Adams,  a  wood-engraver  of  New  York, 
produced  plates  which  were  used  in  Mapes's 
Magazine  as  early  as  1841.  Before  1855  the  art  of 
electrotyping  was  in   general  use  in  New   York. 

To  make  an  electrotype  plate,  copper,  placed  in 
a  state  of  solution,  is  caused  by  electric  action  to 
spread  itself  over  the  surface  of  a  mould  and  there 
be  deposited  in  a  sheet. 

A  wax  mould  is  first  made  of  the  engraved  plate, 
cut,  or  type.  To  produce  this,  beeswax  is  poured 
on  a  leaden  slab  and  is  left  to  cool,  after  which 
graphite  is  brushed  evenly  over  the  surface. 

The  form  of  type  or  the  plate  is  forced  into  the 
wax  by  means  of  a  steam-press.  This  gives  a 
mould  of  the  type  or  plate  in  the  wax.  The  surplus 
wax  is  removed  with  a  sharp  knife. 


STEEEOTYPING  AND  ELECTBOTYPING       111 

As  the  mould  comes  out  uneven,  it  has  to  be 
built  up;  this  is  done  by  filling  the  large  blank 
spaces  and  the  surfaces  between  the  lines  with  hot 
wax,  so  that  the  deposits  of  copper  may  be 
shallow.  The  mould  is  then  given  a  coat  of 
graphite  in  the  black-leading  machine.  The 
graphite  makes  the  mould  a  conductor  of  electricity. 

After  the  deposit  of  this  metallic  surface,  the 
superfluous  graphite  is  washed  out  by  water.  Iron 
filings  are  then  sifted  on  the  mould  and  a  weak 
solution  of  sulphate  of  copper  is  stirred  in.  This 
coating  of  copper  is  given  to  facilitate  the  plating. 
To  make  the  electrical  connection,  a  piece  of  copper 
or  lead  is  imbedded  in  the  edge  of  the  sheet  of  wax. 

The  mould  is  then  suspended  for  one  or  two 
hours  in  a  bath  of  sulphate  of  copper  solution. 
By  the  action  of  the  electric  current,  the  coating 
is  increased  until  it  is  about  .005  of  an  inch  thick. 

The  shell  of  copper  is  removed  from  the  wax 
and  is  washed  in  boiling  water.  It  is  brushed  on 
the  back  with  a  solution  of  chloride  of  zinc,  and 
sheets  of  tinfoil  are  laid  over  it  and  melted. 
Enough  molten  lead  is  pom-ed  on  the  shell  to 
give  it  the  necessary  thickness — about  one-eighth 
of  an  inch.  An  air-blast  causes  the  plate  to  cool 
and  solidify  immediately. 


112       STEREOTYPING  AND  ELECTBOTYPINQ 

Any  defects  or  indentations  on  the  face  of  the 
plate  are  hammered  up  from  the  back,  and  it 
is  afterwards  passed  through  machines  which 
finish  it  and  give  it  a  bevel  on  the  side.  When 
mounted  it  is  ready  for  the  press.  A  plate  to  be  used 
on  a  Hoe  web-perfecting  press,  is  given  a  curva- 
tiu-e  to  fit  it  to  the  cylinder.  When  red  ink  is 
used,  electrotypes  are  usually  given  a  coating  of 
nickel,  to  protect  the  copper  from  the  action 
of  the  mercury. 

An  electrotype  plate  will  stand  from  five  hun- 
dred to  six  hundred  thousand  impressions.  A 
stereotype  plate  lasts  for  only  about  one  hundred 
thousand  impressions.  Both  stereotype  and  elec- 
trotype plates  are  now  sometimes  made  as  large 
as  two  pages  of  a  newspaper. 

By  hurrying  each  step  of  the  process,  it  is  possi- 
ble to  make  an  electrotype  plate  in  an  hour;  but 
for  a  high  grade  of  work  more  care  is  taken, 
and  it  then  requires  several  hours  to  produce 
a  plate  with  fine  finish. 

Electrotyping  is  a  much  cheaper  process  than 
either  half-tone  or  line  work,  the  price  being  from 
one  to  three  cents  a  square  inch.  Line  work  costs 
about  seven  cents,  and  half-tones  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  cents  a  square  inch. 


CHAPTER  II 

HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES 

npHE  numerous  illustrations  which  give  life  and 
-■-  add  to  the  value  of  our  books,  magazines, 
and  newspapers,^  without  greatly  increasing  their 
cost,  have  been  brought  into  existence  by  the  devel- 
opment of  the  relatively  new  art  of  photo-engrav- 
ing, which  by  1880  was  begimiing  to  supplant  the  re- 
producing of  woodcuts.  Reproductions  of  photo- 
graphs, wash-drawings,  paintings,  or  of  any  picture 
or  object  in  which  there  is'  a  gradation  of  color, 
are  made  by  the  half-tone  process.  Drawings  or 
pictures  consisting  of  simple  lines,  that  is  without 
tones  of  color,  such  as  pen  sketches  or  fac-similes 
of  old  writings,  are  reproduced  b}^  line-plates. 

An  illustration  printed  from  a  line-plate  resem- 
bles a  pen  and  ink  drawing;  that  is,  it  consists 
of  lines  in  relief.     A  half-tone  has  no  lines  at  all : 


iThe  illustration  of  English  journals  dates  back  to  1832  when  the 
Penny  Magazine,  a  periodical  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a  popularized 
cyclopedia,  was  first  published  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  illustrated 
journalism  had  fairly  begun  until  Tlie  Illustrated  London  News  was 
founded  in  1842.  Oleason's  Pictorial  was  started  in  Boston  about 
1850.  Frank  Leslie's  followed  in  1851,  and  Hai-per's  Weekly  in  1857. 
The  first  illustrated  daily  paper  in  America  was  The  Daily  Graphic 
of  New  York,  established  in  1873. 

8  (113) 


Half-tones. 


114  HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES 

it  is  composed   of  dots,  and   has   middle   tones, 
full  tones,  and  high  lights. 

To  produce  a  half-tone,  a  negative  is  made  of 
the  picture  by  the  wet  collodion  process,  with  the 
use  of  a  screen,  and  a  copperplate  is  made  of  this 
negative.  Line-plates  are  prepared  by  the  same 
process  without  the  use  of  a  screen,  and  are  made 
of  zinc.  In  newspaper  work,  both  half-tone  and 
line  plates  are  produced  by  zinc  etching,  as  copper 
requires  too  much  time. 

If  a  plain  negative  of  a  photograph  were  printed 
and  etched  on  metal  and  then  mounted  the  proper 
height  and  placed  on  a  printing-press,  the  impres- 
sion taken  from  it  would  be  entirely  black  and 
white,  the  shades  being  black  and  the  high  lights 
white.  There  would  be  no  relief  to  the  black 
portions,  and  the  white  parts  would  be  etched 
entirely  away.  A  printing-plate  must  have  these 
parts  broken  up  in  some  way,  so  that  the  light 
and  the  dark  j^arts  may  be  given  their  proper 
values.  In  the  half-tone  process,  this  is  accom- 
plished by  the  use  of  a  transparent  screen,  generally 
of  glass,  which  consists  of  two  plates  and  on  which 
have  been  made  fine  lines,  the  lines  of  one  plate 
intersecting  those  of  the  other  at  right  angles.  This 
screen  is  placed  in  the  plate-holder,  in  front  of  the 


HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES  115 

negative,  and  the  rays  of  light  passing  through  it 
break  up  the  parts  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  the 
gradation  of  color.  When  the  lines  are  close  to- 
gether the  engraving  will  be  finer  than  when  a 
coarse  screen  is  used,  but  it  will  be  more  difficult 
to  print.  One  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty  lines 
to  the  inch  is  the  average  number. 

As  stated  above,  for  newspaper  illustration, 
both  half-tone  and  line  work  are  printed  on  zinc. 
A  negative  is  first  made  from  the  photograph 
or  sketch,  and  is  developed  in  the  dark-room. 
A  plate  of  zinc  is  sensitized  with  a  solution  consist- 
ing of  bichromate  of  aimnonium  (or  potassium), 
distilled  water,  and  albumen.  This  solution  is 
poured  several  times  over  the  plate.  The  sensitiz- 
ing is  done  in  the  dark-room,  and  the  zinc  plate  is 
then  placed  in  the  printing-frame.  The  plate  is 
laid  flat  upon  the  negative  and  the  cross-bars  are 
screwed  down  very  tight,  to  insure  perfect  contact. 
Exposure  to  strong  light,  either  sunlight  or  electric 
light,  from  two  to  eight  minutes,  then  follows;  the 
light  passes  through  the  transparent  parts  and 
prints  on  the  metal.  Nothing  shows  on  the  plate 
when  it  is  taken  out  of  the  printing-frame.  It  is 
rolled  with  printer's  or  lithographic  transfer-ink, 
and  is  laid  face  upwards  in  a  tray  containing  enough 


Line-plates. 


116  HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES 

water  barely  to  cover  its  surface.  The  plate 
is  afterwards  rubbed  very  gently  with  a  piece 
of  clean  absorbent  cotton  which  removes  the 
superfluous  ink.  The  print  appears  in  the  form 
of  black  lines  against  a  bright  background.  The 
ink  clings  to  the  parts  acted  on  by  the  light;  it  rubs 
away  the  parts  not  acted  on  and  leaves  the  plain 
metal.  After  the  plate  is  washed  and  heated  it  is 
powdered  with  dragon's  blood,  which  protects 
the  lines  of  the  engraving  when  the  plate  is  etched 
in  the  acid  bath.  In  the  etching  all  the  parts  not 
so  protected  are  eaten  away,  the  lines  being  left 
in  relief.  The  etching  solution  is  composed  of 
nitric  acid  and  water.  In  ordinary  commercial 
work,  three  or  four  baths,  sometimes  more,  are 
necessary  before  the  plate  acquires  the  proper 
depth ;  for  newspaper  work  the  plate  is  given  from 
two  to  four  bites,  as  time  permits. 

The  next  step  is  the  routing,  or  drilling.  On 
the  routing-machine,  in  those  parts  where  the 
acid  did  not  bite  deep  enough  the  plate  is  still 
further  cut  away,  and  large  parts  which  are  not 
to  show  at  all  are  removed.  The  plate  is  then 
mounted,  or  nailed  to  a  block,  and  is  ready  for  the 
composing-room.  In  printing  from  the  plate  on 
the  press,  the  projecting  parts  show  black  and 
the  indentations  white. 


The  films. 


HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES  117 

The  body-work,  or  background,  of  an  illustra- 
tion is  sometimes  produced  by  rubbing  the  plate, 
before  it  is  etched,  tlirough  films  which  are  made 
of  a  preparation  of  gelatine  and  which  are  inked. 
By  placing  films  on  parts  of  the  plate  to  be 
strengthened,  and  gently  rubbing  on  the  back  of 
the  film,  various  lines  or  dots  are  produced.  The 
films  are  so  made  as  to  give  different  shades  of 
color — small  dots  and  fine  lines  for  delicate 
tones,  heavy  lines  and  large  dots  for  deeper 
tones.  The  stipple-work  which  forms  the  back- 
ground of  colored  illustrations  is  produced  in 
this  way. 

In  printing  a  half-tone  on  copper,  the  plate  is 
sensitized  in  a  silver  bath  instead  of  a  solution  of 
bichromate  of  ammonium.  The  etching  mordant 
is  perchloride  of  iron  instead  of  nitric  acid. 

Half-tone  and  line  plates  for  newspapers  are 
made  inabout  the  same  way  as  for  books  and  maga-  newspaper 
zines,  except  that  for  the  former,  each  step  of  the 
process  is  performed  with  greater  rapidit3\  Daily 
journals  have  many  little  devices  for  facilitating  the 
work:  they  spend  less  time  in  taking  the  negative 
and  use  an  electric  fan  for  drjdng.  For  book 
or  magazine  work,  several  hours  are  required  to 
make  a  plate  carefully;    a  newspaper  produces  a 


work. 


118  HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES 

plate  in  an  hour.  If  a  fire  or  some  unusual  occur- 
rence takes  place  a  little  before  midnight,  a 
sketch  artist  is  sent  out,  a  cut  is  made,  and  the 
illustration  appears  in  the  two  o'clock  edition  of 
the  paper. 

The  plates  for  colored  pictures,  with  which 
many  of  our  newspaper  supplements  are  illus- 
trated, are  prepared  by  about  the  same  j^rocess  as 
an  ordinary  line-plate;  the  main  difference  con- 
sists in  making  a  separate  plate  for  each  color, 
as  on  the  press  the  paper  passes  from  one  cylinder 
to  another  to  receive  the  various  colors.  [For 
Color-printing  on  the  Press,  see  page  97.] 

In  newspaper  work,  a  line-plate  is  locked  up 
fhe'prefs^^  with  the  form  of  type,  which  is  set  by  the  lino- 
from  plates,  type  and  which  is  the  size  of  one  full  page  of  the 
paper,  and  is  stereotyped  with  the  type.  To 
get  a  clear  impression  of  the  cut,  in  making  the 
matrix,  an  "  overlay, "  or  piece  of  stiff  prepared 
paper,  is  placed  directly  over  the  plate,  so  as  to 
keep  it  down  as  tight  as  possible. 

Matrices  are  made  from  half-tones,  but  in 
order  to  get  better  effects,  some  newspapers 
print  directly  from  the  plate  itself,  as  is  done  in 
fine  work.  A  depression  or  space  is  left  in  the 
matrix  and  the  half-tone  is  inserted  in  it:    when 


HALF-TONE  AND  LINE  PLATES  119 

the  molten  lead  is  poured  over  the  matrix,  the 
cut  is  soldered  into  the  stereotype  plate.  To 
save  wear,  half-tones  are  nickel-plated  for  color 
work,  as  nickel  is  not  easily  affected  by  colored  inks. 
A  plate  to  be  used  on  a  web  press  is  made  with  a 
curve  which  fits  it  to  the  cylinder.  In  printing  a 
haK-tone,  a  paper  or  "overlay"  is  placed  be- 
tween the  plate  and  the  impression-cylinder,  so  as 
to  bring  out  the  lights  and  shades  that  should 
appear  in  the  picture. 


WEITING  MATERIALS 


(121;) 


WRITING  MATEEIALS 


asuumeuu 


CHAPTER  I 

MATERIALS    USED    BY    ANCIENT    PEOPLES 

T^HE  chief  substances  which  have  been  used  as 
-*-  writing  materials  are  stone,  clay,  bark,  leaves, 
skins  of  animals,  metal,  potsherds,  wood,  Hnen, 
papyrus,  parchment,  wax,  and  paper. 

It  is  probable  that  the  primitive  races  first  Rocks- 
wrote  on  rocks  with  some  sharp-pointed  instru-  pointed 
ment,  to  delineate  familiar  objects  or  t-o  convey 
information  to  pasP'^^^-by.  The  Eskimo  of 
Alaska,  at  the  present  day,  cut  characters  upon 
the  smooth  sides  of  their  ivory  drill-bows  with 
sharp  pieces  of  iron  or  steel.  They  thus  graphic- 
ally depict  their  hunting  expeditions  and  various 
social  and  religious  practices.  The  prairie  tribes 
of  Indians,  also,  incise  characters  upon  the  shoul- 
der-blades of  the  buffalo  and  other  large  animals, 
when  they  are  on  the  hunt,  to  inform  members 
of  their  band  of  the  course  of  travel. 

When  men  were  able  to  give  fuller  expression  Tablets  of 
to  their  ideas,  instead  of  making  inscriptions  on  stilus. 
(123) 


124    MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES 


Wooden  tab- 
lets. 


Tablets  of 
lead. 


rocks,  they  wrote  on  tablets  of  soft  stone  with  a 
pointed  tool,  called  a  stilus,  made  of  iron  or 
other  metal.  The  pen  used  by  the  early  Hebrews 
was  probably  such  an  instrument.  In  some  in- 
stances the  stilus  was  pointed  with  diamonds,  as 
mentioned  in  Jeremiah  xvii.,  1. 

Wooden  tablets  were  used  at  an  ancient  date. 
Sometimes  the  inscriptions  were  made  upon 
the  bare  wood;  in  other  cases,  the  tablets  were 
coated  with  some  kind  of  composition,  the 
writing  being  scratched  upon  the  surface  with 
a  pointed  implement.  The  Egyptians  employed 
tablets  covered  with  a  glazed  composition,  upon 
which  they  wrote  with  ink.  Wooden  tablets  con- 
taining the  names  of  the  de«d  have  been  found 
with  mummies. 

Lead  was  em-ployed  in  very  early  times.  Pliny 
states  that  the  public  acts  of  the  most  remote  nations 
were  recorded  in  leaden  books.  Tablets  of  lead  have 
been  discovered  which  contain  petitions  to  oracles, 
and  in  some  cases  the  answers;  charms  and  incan- 
tations were  also  inscribed  on  leaves  of  this  metal. 
These  leaden  plates  were  often  so  thin  that 
they  might  easily  have  been  rolled  up.  For 
literary  purposes,  lead  was  employed  to  some 
extent  in    the   middle    ages    in    Northern    Italy. 


MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES   125 

Bronze  was  a  material  used  in  both  Greece  and 
Rome,  on  which  to   engrave  laws,  treaties,  and 
other  solemn  documents. 
In  Babylonia  and  Assj^ria,  tablets  were  made  of  Babylonia 

...  .  and  Assyria: 

soft  clay;  after  receiving  impressions,  they  were  tablets  of 
dried  in  the  sun  or  baked  in  ovens.  The  scribe, 
who  held  an  important  position,  was  always  pro- 
vided with  slabs  of  fine  plastic  clay,  sufficiently 
moist  to  take  an  impression  easily,  but  also  suffi- 
ciently firm  to  prevent  the  inscriptions  from 
becoming  blurred  or  effaced.  The  writing,  of 
course,  was  done  with  the  stilus. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  used  v.'Ooden  and  ivory  Greece  and 
tablets  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  wax;  the  waxentab- 
instrument  was  still  the  stilus,  made  of  metal, 
bone,  or  ivory.  The  tablets  were  sometimes 
fastened  together  Vv'ith  wire.  They  were  employed 
for  memoranda,  accounts,  school  exercises,  corre- 
spondence, literary  composition,  and  legal  docu- 
ments. The  stilus  Vv-as  sharpened  at  one  end  for  the 
purpose  of  writing,  and  was  left  blunt  at  the  other, 
to  make  erasures  when  necessary.  Wax  tablets 
continued  to  be  used  to  a  limited  extent  in  Europe 
until  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century. 

In  Egypt  inscribed  potsherds  have  been  found  inscribed 
in  great  numbers.       The  inscriptions  are  some-  p^'-''^^*^^- 


126    MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES 

times  scratched  with  a  pointed  instrument;  gener- 
ally, however,  they  are  written  in  ink  with  a  reed. 
In  Greece  this  material  seems  to  have  been 
used  only  on  rare  occasions  or  from  necessity. 
Such  inscribed  fragments  have  received  the  name 
of  ostraka,  a  term  which  we  associate  with  the 
ostracism  practised  by  the  Athenians,  in  which 
the  votes  were  recorded  on  pieces  of  broken  ves- 
sels. In  Egypt  the  ostraka  were  generally  receipts 
for  taxes  or  letters  or  orders  to  officials. 
Graffiti.  Graffiti,  or  wall-scribblings,  abounded  in  nearl}^ 

all  places  under  Roman  domination.  They  have 
been  discovered  in  the  ancient  cities  of  Italy, 
but  in  the  greatest  numbers  at  Pompeii.  The 
scribblings  and  rude  drawings  are  generally 
scratched  with  a  sharp  instrument  or  scrawled 
with  red  chalk  or  charcoal,  and  were  evidently 
traced  by  idle  loungers  or  triflers;  inscriptions 
of  a  more  serious  nature  were  drawn  with  a 
brush.  We  find  doggerel  and  amatory  verses, 
caricatures,  quotations  from  the  poets,  idle  words, 
names  to  which  opprobrious  epithets  were  attached, 
pasquinades,  and  satirical  remarks;  among  the 
tracings  of  a  serious  import  were  notices  of  house- 
hold events,  advertisements  and  announcements 
of  games,  appeals  to  the  public,  prayers,  and  invo- 


MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES  127 

cations  to  the  martyrs.  These  inscriptions  dis- 
close the  current  life  of  the  people,  afford  material 
for  the  study  of  the  Roman  cursive  writing,  and  are 
often  of  historical  and  archeological  importance. 

The  Egyptians  covered  with  inscriptions  the 
stone  walls  of  their  buildings, — their  palaces, 
temples,  monuments,  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  sub- 
terranean passages,  and  even  the  interiors  of  their 
tombs.  The  history  of  the  nation  was  thus  writ- 
ten in  hieroglyphics,  and  on  stone  walls  and  tablets 
kings  recorded  their  exploits,  their  campaigns  into 
distant  lands,  their  victories,  and  their  triumphant 
returns. 

In  the  earliest  ages  of  their  history  the  Hebrews, 

......  .  1    Writing  ma- 

m  common  with  other  prmiitive  peoples,  engraved  tenais  of  the 

^  1       I-       J        o  Hebrews. 

the  record  of  their  important  events  upon  stone; 
they  also  WTote  with  the  stilus  on  rough  tablets  of 
wood,  earthenware,  or  bone;  at  a  later  period  they 
employed  the  skins  of  animals.  The  Law  was 
written  in  golden  characters  on  skins  in  the  form 
of  a  scroll.  Leather  is  still  used  by  the  Jews 
for  their  synagogue  rolls.  Parchment  was  also 
employed  by  the  Hebrews  as  a  writing  surface. 

Among  other  materials  used  by  primitive  peo-      . 
pies  to  receive  writing,  besides  the  skins  of  animals,  ™^j^ie^v^e's  o] 
the  most   common  were  the  bark  of  trees,  and  "'®^^' 


128    MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES 

leaves,  principally  those  of  the  palm.  The  Latin 
word  for  bark,  liher,  came  to  mean  also  book. 
Linen  cloth  was  employed  as  a  writing  surface  by 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  also  by  the  Romans  for 
certain  rituals  in  their  history.  The  Ojibwa 
Indians  of  North  America  still  make  records  on 
birch-bark,  and  own  scrolls  which  they  say  have 
been  in  their  possession  for  centuries.  The  Indians 
have  also  painted  on  skins  of  animals,  but  of 
recent  years  they  have  emplo3'ed  muslin  and 
canvas  as  a  writing  surface.  The  Oriental  traveler, 
Mr.  F.  Jagor,  observed  in  India  and  elsewhere  the 
use  of  birch-bark  and  palm  and  similar  leaves  to 
receive  wTiting.  The  characters  are  usually  in- 
scribed with  a  finely-pointed  instrument  of  steel 
or  other  hard  substance,  after  which  a  composition 
of  grease  and  powdered  charcoal  is  rubbed  into 
the  indentations. 
The  calamus,  With  ink  the  writing  implement  was  the  calamus, 
or  reed,  sharpened  and  split  like  the  pens  of  the 
present  day.  The  reed  pen  was  employed  for 
writing  upon  papyrus  or  parchment.  This  instru- 
ment was  made  from  the  tubular  stalks  of  grasses 
growing  in  marshj'  lands  and  from  the  hollow 
joints  of  the  bamboo.  The  calamus  is  the  true 
ancient  representative   of   the   modern  pen.     In 


or  reed. 


Ancient  Inks. 


MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES   129 

Greece  and  Rome  the  reeds  in  common  use  were 
obtained  from  Egypt,  but  persons  of  wealth  often 
^vrote  with  a  silver  calamus.  Some  of  the  ancient 
reed  pens  are  still  preserved  ;  one  found  in  a 
papyrus  at  Herculaneum  is  now  kept  at  Naples. 
The  natives  of  Persia  and  of  some  neighboring 
countries  still  employ  the  reed,  as  the  metal  pen 
is  not  adapted  to  their  mode  of  writing.  The 
Japanese  and  Chinese  use  a  hair  pencil  or  small 
brush. 

The  ink  of  the  ancients  was  made  from  the  black 
fluid  of  the  cuttle-fish,  or  of  lampblack  or  char- 
coal and  gum.  The  thick  inks  were  applied  with 
a  brush;  for  the  reed  a  thinner  ink  was  made  of 
gall-nuts  and  sulphate  of  iron.  Red  and  blue  inks 
were  employed  for  titles  and  initial  letters.  The 
ancient  inks  were  thicker  and  more  durable  than. 
those  of  the  presentday.  The  writing  on  the 
ancient  Egyptian  papyri  is  legible  even  now^iteE— 
the  lapse  of  several  thousand  years^ 

'"GoH  and  silver  have  both  been  employed  as  Qoi^andsii- 
writing  fluids.  Manuscripts  of  purple-stained  fl"i(i^""°* 
vellum  were  written  in  gold,  and  ordinary  white 
vellum  was  also  so  inscribed,  particularly  during 
the  reigns  of  the  Carlovingian  kings  of  the  ninth 
and  tenth  centuries.  The  practice  of  gold  writing 
9 


130   MATERIALS  USED  BY  ANCIENT  PEOPLES 

survived  until  the  thirteenth  century,  after  which 
date  only  a  few  isolated  examples  are  to  be  found. 
Silver  would  produce  little  effect  on  a  white 
ground;  its  use  as  a  writing  fluid  therefore 
ceased  with  the  disuse  of  stained  vellum. 


CHAPTER    II 

PAPYRUS 

rPHE  Cyperus  Papyrus  of  Linnseus  was  a  plant 

-^     extensively  cultivated  in  ancient  times  in  the  piant!'^''^'^"^ 

Delta  of  Egypt.     It  is  now  extinct  in  Lower  Egypt, 

but  is  found  in  Nubia  and  Abyssinia.     It  is  said 

to  grow  also  in  Western  Asia  and  in  Sicily. 

One  of  its  ancient  names  was  P-apu,  from  which 
the  Greek  title  papyrus  was  derived.  The  Greeks 
called  it  also  hyblos  and  deltas.  Its  Hebrew 
name  v\'as  govie,  a  word  resembling  the  Coptic 
gom,  or  "volume."  In  modern  Arabic  its  name  is 
herdi.  In  hieroglyphic  writing  the  papyrus  plant 
is  used  as  the  symbol  of  Lower  Egypt. 

On  the  ancient  Egyptian  monuments,  the  papy- 
rus is  represented  as  a  plant  about  ten  feet  in 
height.  Theophrastus  gives  the  first  accurate  de- 
scription of  it,  and  says  that  it  grew  in  shallows 
of  about  three  feet  or  less,  its  main  root,  which  lay 
horizontally,  being  of  the  thickness  of  a  man's 
wrist  and  ten  cubits  in  length.  From  this  main 
root,  smaller  roots  extended  down  into  the  mud; 
(131) 


132  PAPYRUS 


the  stem  of  the  plant  rose  to  the  height  of 
six  feet  or  more  above  the  water,  being  triangular 
in  form  with  a  tufted  head  of  numerous  droop- 
ing spikelets. 

The  papyrus  plant  was  used  for  many  pur- 
poses, both  useful  and  ornamental.  Of  the  tufted 
"  head,  garlands  were  made  for  the  shrines  of  the 
gods.  Its  roots  vv'ere  dried  for  fuel  and  its  pith 
was  boiled  and  eaten.  Of  the  stem,  Vs'ere  made 
sandals,  boxes,  boats,  sails,  mats,  cloth,  cords,  and 
writing  material.  In  sculptures  of  the  period  of 
the  fourth  dynasty^  workmen  are  represented  in 
the  act  of  building  a  boat  of  stalks  cut  from  a 
neighboring  plantation  of  papyrus.  Isaiah  prob- 
ably refers  to  boats  of  this  kind  when  he  speaks  of 
'*  vessels  of  bulrushes  upon  the  waters"  (xviii.,  2). 

The  widespread  use  of  papyrus  as  an  ancient 
wTitlng^ma-"  writing  surface  is  attested  by  early  writers  and  by 
numerous  documents  and  sculptures;  the  material 
was  employed  in  Egypt  at  a  remote  period.  The 
names  of  the  plant,  given  above,  were  api^lied  to 
the  writing  material,  which  by  the  Greeks  was  called 
also  charla.  Papyrus  rolls  are  represented  in  the 
sculptures  of  Egyptian  temples,  and  numerous 
examples  of  the  rolls  themselves  are  still  in  exist- 


1  From  about  3998-3721  b.  a 


PAPYRUS  133 


ence.  The  dry  atmosphere  of  Egypt  has  been 
peculiarly  favorable  to  the  preservation  of  these 
documents;  in  many  instances  they  remain  un- 
touched b}-  dec-ay.  and  are  as  fresh  as  when  first 
written. 

Pliny's  account  of  the  manufacture  of  the  writ- 

,      •    1    f  r         J.      J.1-  Manufac- 

mg  material  from  papyrus  refers  to  the  process  ture  of  pa- 
followed  in  his  time,  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
same  general  method  of  treatment  had  been  prac- 
ticed for  many  centuries.  The  stem  was  cut  into 
longitudinal  strips,  those  from  the  centre  being,  of 
course,  the  broadest  and  therefore  the  most  valu- 
able. The  strips  were  laid  on  a  board,  side  by 
side,  until  the  desired  width  was  obtained;  across 
the  layer  thus  formed  another  layer  of  shorter 
strips  was  laid  at  right  angles.  The  two  layers 
were  soaked,  Pliny  says,  in  water  of  the  Nile. 
It  is  supposed  that  they  were  joined  either 
by  the  juice  of  the  plant  or  by  a  thin  gum.  The 
layers  were  then  pressed  and  dried  in  the  sun. 
Any  inequalities  in  the  surface  were  removed  by 
the  use  of  ivory  or  a  smooth  shell.  Newly-made 
papyrus  was  white,  *or  brownish  white,  and  flex- 
ible, but  the  papyri  which  have  been  preserved 
until  the  present  day  have  become  of  a  light  or 
dark  brown  color  and  so  brittle  as  to  break  at  the 


134  PAPYRUS 


touch.  The  sheets  varied  from  four  or  five  inches 
to  nearly  eighteen  inches  in  width ;  the  usual  width 
was  about  eight  inches.  Any  required  length 
could  be  obtained  by  fastening  a  number  of  sheets 
"together,  end  to  end.  The  sheets  were  put  together 
in  the  order  of  their  quality,  the  best  sheet  on  the 
outside  of  the  roll  and  the  worst  sheets  in  the  centre. 
They  were  thus  arranged,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
concealing  the  bad  material,  but  that  the  strongest 
sheets  should  be  placed  where  there  was  most  wear 
and  tear.  Besides,  if  the  entire  roll  should  not  be 
needed,  the  poorest  sheets  could  be  better  spared 
and  easily  cut  off.  The  papyrus  roll,  as  a  rule, 
was  written  on  one  side  only,  and  was  fastened 
to  a  wooden  rod  or  roller,  around  which  it  was 
wound. 
Papyrus  The    rolls    Were   of    various  lengths,     A  fairly 

full  copy  of  the  ritual  of  the  dead,  the  whole  or 
a  part  of  which  was  buried  with  every  person  of 
consequence  from  the  eighteenth  dynasty^  to  the 
Roman  period,  required  a  roll  fifteen  inches  wide 
and  from  eighty  to  ninety  feet  long.  The  Harris 
pap}rus,  in  the  British  Museum,  is  the  longest 
known,  having  a  length  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  feet.    The  most  ancient  of  the  papyri  now  ex- 

1  From  about  1587-1328  B.  c. 


rolls, 


PAPYRUS  135 

tant  is  the  Prisse  papyrus,  so  called  from  the  name 
of  its  former  owner,  and  is  preserved  at  Paris.  It 
is  supposed  to  date  from  about  2400  b.  c,  or 
earlier,  and  contains  a  work  composed  during  the 
reign  of  a  king  of  the  fifth  dynasty.^  The  papyri 
of  Egypt  have  usually  been  found  in  tombs, 
or  in  the  hands,  or  wrapped  with  the  bodies,  of 
mummies.  Besides  the  ritual  of  the  dead,  which 
is  most  frequently  the  subject,  and  religious  rolls, 
there  are  civil  and  literary  documents,  in  the 
hieratic  style  of  writing,  and  the  demotic  or 
enchorial  papyri,  relating  generally  to  sales  of 
property. 

The  discovery  of  papyri   containing  works  of 

Discoveriet  o'. 

classical  Greek  authors,  begun  about  the  middle  papyri. 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  resulted  in  a  great 
gain  to  literature.  There  were  brought  to  light 
four  or  five  quite  complete  orations  of  Hyperides, 
an  orator  who  before  had  been  known  only  by 
name.  Additions  were  made  to  the  works  of 
Euripides  and  Alcman,  and  early  manuscripts 
were  found  of  parts  of  Homer,  Plato,  Thucydides, 
Demosthenes,  and  Iso crates.  In  the  great  dis- 
covery in  1891,  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty 
ancient  mummies  in  a  subterranean  passage  at 


1  From  about  3721-3503  b.  o. 


136  PAPYRUS 

Deir  el  Bahari,  near  Thebes,  many  Egyptian 
papjTi  were  given  to  the  world.  These  contained 
the  usual  ritual  passages  and  extracts  from  the 
Book  of  the  Dead.  In  the  same  year  the  British 
Museum  obtained  from  Egj^pt  papyrus  rolls  con- 
taining almost  the  whole  of  a  lost  work  of  Aristotle 
on  the  Constitution  of  Athens.  There  were  four 
of  these  rolls,  the  longest  seven  feet,  the  shortest 
three  feet  in  length.  They  date  from  about  the 
end  of  the  first  century  a.  d. 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  early  Chaldeans 
had  a  knowledge  of  papyrus  paper,  and  either 
made  it  themselves  or  had  it  brought  from  Egypt, 
but  if  they  possessed  papyrus  writings  they  have 
entirely  disappeared.    Egypt  was  the  true  home 
of  this  plant,  where  paper  was  manufactured  from 
it  at  least  2000  years  b.  c.  It  was  for  a  long  time  an 
article  of  export  and  in  great  demand.     It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  manufacture  of  jjapyrus  in  Egypt 
ceased  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century. 
Papyrus  was  used  among  the  early  Greeks  but  it 
Greece  Vd     ^^^  ^°^  come  into  general  use  until  after  the  time  of 
Italy.  Alexander  the  Great,  when  it  was  exported  from  the 

ports  of  Egypt.  It  is  not  known  when  papyrus  was 
first  used  in  Italy,  but  under  the  Empire  there  was 
a  great  demand  for  it.     It  was  then  employed  not 


PAPYRUS  137 

only  for  making  books,  but  for  domestic  purposes, 
correspondence,  and  legal  dociunents.  It  is  said 
that  during  the  reign  of  Tiberius  the  failure  of 
the  papyrus  crop  almost  caused  a  riot.  Although 
the  plant  was  cultivated  in  Italy,  the  staple  was 
doubtless  imported  from  Alexandria.  It  is  thought 
by  some  that  papyrus  paper  was  never  manufac- 
tured from  the  native  plant  anywhere  except  in 
Egypt. 

Papyrus  continued  to  be  employed  to  some  ex- 
tent as  a  writing  material  in  Europe  until  the  tenth 
century;  by  the  twelfth  centiuy  it  had  entirely 
disappeared.  Its  use  for  books  ceased  sooner  than 
for  dociunents.  During  the  later  period  of  its  use 
in  book-making,  it  was  no  longer  made  in  rolls 
but  was  cut  into  square  pages  and  bound  like  a 
modern  book.  To  the  square  form  of  book,  the 
name  codex  was  given.     [See  Codex,  page  183.jJ 


CHAPTER    III 

PARCHMENT    AND    VELLUM 

n^HE  skins  of  animals  were  employed  as  a  writing 
-*-  sm'f  ace  at  a  very  early  period.  The  word  parch- 
ment is  derived  from  Pergamum,  the  name  of  a 
city  in  Mysia,  where  it  is  said  the  material  was  first 
used.  The  story  as  told  by  Pliny  is  that  Eumenes 
II.,  King  of  Pergamum  (b.  c.  197-159?),  wishing 
his  library  to  rival  that  of  the  Pharaohs  at 
Alexandria,  was  forced  to  develop  the  manufac- 
ture of  parchment  in  consequence  of  the  prohi- 
bition of  the  exportation  of  papyrus  from  Egypt 
through  the  jealousy  of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes. 
Papyrus  was  used  as  a  writing  surface  in  Italy 
as  late  as  the  tenth  century,  but  parchment  was 
also  employed.  From  the  tenth  century  until  the 
fourteenth,  when  paper  became  generally  known, 
parchmeiTt  was  ~!Tic  ordhiary  writing-  material. 
Xi  was  the  influence  of  the  Christian  Church  that 
eventually  caused  vellmn  to  supersede  papyrus  as  a 
writing  surface.  Because  of  its  durability,  it  was 
used  for  new  volumes,  also  to  replace  damaged 
(138) 


PABCEMENT  AND  VELLUM  139 

works  on  papyrus.  When  Constantine  desired 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  for  his  new  churches,  he  or- 
dered the  manuscripts  to  be  inscribed  on  velliun. 

Diu-ing  the  middle  ages,  vellum  dyed  purple,  or\ 
other  brilliant  color,  was  used  for  valuable  manu- 
scripts, such  as  the  Gospels,  the  Psalter,  and  im- 
portant Codices.  The  entire  surface  of  leaves  of 
this  material  was  sometimes  gilded,  but  this  mode 
of  decoration  must  have  proved  too  expensive /j 
to  be  ver}'  generally  employed. 

Parchment  ^  is  skin  so  prepared  that  both  sides  Kinds  of 
can  be  written  upon.  Ordinary  parchment  is  ^^^^  ^^^ ' 
made  chief!}''  from  sheepskm  and  sometimes  from 
those  of  the  goatT  Fi'h¥  p"af"chmerit,"or  vellum,  is 
prepared  froin~thB~skins  of  calves,  kids,  and  dead- 
born  lambs.  A  coarse  variety  used  for  drumheads, 
tambourines,  etc.,  is  made  from  the  skins  of  goats, 
calves,  and  wolves;  for  battledores  the  skins  of 
asses  are  employed ;  ^lor  bookbinders'  use  parch- 
ment is  sometimes  manufactured  from  pigskin. 
Sheepskins  are  often  split  so  as  to  produce  two 
sheets   of    parchment.      The  Eskimos  make  this 


1  In  modern  times  the  term  parchment  has  given  place  to  that  of 
vellum.  The_triie  vellum  is  made  from  calf-skin  or  from  the  skins  of 
kids  or  dead-born  jaml^s^  but  the  name  )§  no\v  applied  to  amedieval 
skin  book  of  any  kind,  The  use  of  the  -w  ord  parchment  is  generally 
restricted  to  sheepskin  or  a  skin^ofl,,  whicJbL.iaw. .  deeds  or  other 
-formal  writings  are  engrossed. 


140 


PARCHMENT  AND  VELLU3I 


Preparation 
of  tne  skins. 


Vegetable 
parchmen  t. 


material  from  the  entrails  of  seals,  and  manufac- 
ture from  it  blankets  and  clothing.  The  skin  of 
the  fur-seal  is  sometimes  converted  into  parch- 
ment, which  is  used  for  making  cases  for  holding 
valuable  papers  or  other  articles. 

With  some  slight  differences,  all  the  skins  are  pre- 
pared in  the  same  way.  They  are  first  soaked  in 
water  and  then  in  milk  of  lime  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
moving the  hair.  They  are  shaved,  washed,  and  gone 
over  with  a  sharp  knife  to  remove  superfluous  parts. 
The  skins  are  then  stretched  on  a  stout  wooden 
frame,  called  a  herse,  and  dried  in  the  air.  The 
finer  varieties  are  dusted  with  chalk  and  rubbed 
with  pumice-stone.  Parchment  intended  for  the 
use  of  bookbinders  is  planed,  in  order  to  produce  a 
rough  surface  capable  of  being  dyed  or  v>?ritten 
upon. 

Vegetable  parchment,  or  parchment  paper,  is 
made  by  dipping  ordinary  unsized  paper  for  a  few 
seconds  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  and  immediately 
removing  all  traces  of  the  acid.  Paper  thus  acted 
upon  undergoes  a  remarkable  change;  it  becomes 
translucent,  horny,  and  parchment-like,  and  ac- 
quires about  five  times  the  strength  of  ordinary 
paper.  It  is  impervious  to  water,  but  becomes  soft 
and  flaccid  when  dipped  into  it;  it  is  not  affected 


PARCHMENT  AND  VELLUM  141 

by  boiling  water.  The  same  effect  is  produced 
by  subjecting  paper  to  a  solution  of  chloride  of 
zinc. 

Stout  varieties  of  vegetable  parchment  have  been 
employed  for  book-covers  and  as  a  writing  surface 
for  deeds;  its  chief  use,  however,  is  for  covers  of 
vessels,  such  as  preserve-jars  and  bottles.  Thin 
sheets  of  it  are  employed  for  tracing  plans  and 
charts. 

Parchment  for  printing  purposes  is  imported 
into  the  United  States  from  Europe  and  is  sold 
in  rolls  of  sixty  skins.  It  is  made  in  Hanover,  at 
Augsburg,  Breslau,  Dantzic,  and  Nuremberg,  and 
in  Holland,  England,  and  France. 


CHAPTER    IV 

PAPER 

rTHE  earliest  material  which  resembled  the  paper 
-^  of  the  present  day  was  made  from  the  Egyp- 
tian papyrus,  From  the  Egyptian  word  P-apu 
were  derived  the  Greek  and  Latin  terms  papyrus, 
and  from  these  all  similar  writing  material  has 
been  named. 

The  Chinese  seem  to  have  had  a  knowledge  of 

Paper  made  ° 

^Is^^^^^'  the  art  of  making  paper  many  centuries  before 
the  material  was  introduced  into  Western  Asia  and 
Europe.  At  a  very  remote  period  they  made  paper 
^  of  sprouts  of  bamboo,  of  Chinese  grass,  and  of  the 
bast  of  a  special  mulberry-tree.  Fang  Mi-Chih, 
author  of  an  encyclopedia,  states  that  at  first 
the  Chinese  wrote  on  bamboo  boards;  but  that 
for  a  long  time,  both  before  and  after  the 
Christian  era,  the  usual  writing  material  was 
paper  made  of  silk  waste.  The  manufacture  of 
paper  from  fibrous  matter  and  from  the  wool 
of  the  cotton-plant,  reduced  to  a  pulp,  has 
been  traced  back  by  some  writers  to  the  second 
century  b.  c.  The  invention  of  paper  made  of 
(142) 


PAPER  143 

vegetable  fibre  is  attributed  to  the  statesman 
Ts  'ai  Lun.  It  is  said  that  in  105  a.  d.  he  had 
succeeded  in  making  paper  of  bark,  of  hemp,  of 
rags,  and  of  old  fish-nets. 

By  the  Chinese  the  art  was  made  known  to 
the  Hindus,  the  Persians,  and  the  Arabs.  A  Sie^j^^iins, 
paper  manufactory  v^-as  established  at  Samarkand  Arabs.  ^ 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  or  early  in  the  sev- 
enth century  of  the  Christian  era.  The  Arabs 
conquered  this  city  in  704  a.  d.,  and  thei-e  learned 
the  use  of  the  material.  From  this  time  paper 
became  available  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  At 
Bagdad  its  manufacture  was  carried  on  from 
about  795  a.  d,  until  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
art  was  practised  also  in  Damascus,  Egypt,  and 
the  North  of  Africa.  From  the  large  quantities 
made  at  Damascus,  paper  received  the  name  of 
charta  Damascena,  a  term  by  which  it  was  generally 
known  in  Europe  in  the  middle  ages;  the  titles 
charta  and  papyrus  were  transferred  to  it  from  the 
Egyptian  writing  material ;  /cotton  paper  was  called 
also  during  the  middle  ages  charta  bomhycina, 
gossypina,  cuitunea,  xylina,  Damascena,  and  serica. 

Paper   was   probably    introduced    into    Greece 

^  ^  -'  The  use  of 

through  trade  with  Asia,  and  thence  carried  to  paper  in 

°  '  Europe- 

other  countries  in  Europe.     It  seems  not  to  have  Greece. 


144 


PAPER 


Spain,  Italy, 
Hermany, 
and  France. 


been  used  very  extensively  in  Greece  before  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
\^  The  first  paper  manufactured  in  Em-ope  was  ,  ^ 
made  by  the  Moors  in  Spain.  In  1154  there  was 
a  paper-mill  at  Jativa  ;  factories  were  also  estab- 
lished at  Valencia  and  Toledo.  The  Arabs  intro- 
duced paper-making  into  Sicily;  from  Sicily  it 
passed  over  into  Italy,  where  there  is  evidence,  in 
the  city  of  Genoa,  of  a  trade  in  this  material  as  early 
as  1235.  In  Germany  the  first  factories  seem  to  , 
have  been  estabhshed  between  Cologne  and  Mainz 
towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
in  Mainz  itself  about  the  year  1320.  Mills  were 
started  also  at  Nuremberg,  Ratisbon,  and  Augsburg. 
Paper  was  introduced  from  Spain  into  France,  - 
where  it  is  said  to  have  been  manufactured  in  the 
district  of  Herault  as  early  as  1189.  The  Nether- 
lands and  England  first  obtained  their  supply  f  ^ 
from  France  and  Burgundy.  It  is  believed 
that  the  first  paper-maker  in  England  vras  a  per- 
son named  Tate,  who  is  said  to  have  had  a  mill 
in  operation  in  Hertford  early  in  the  sixteenth 
centur}^  Very  little  is  known  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  the  material  in  that  country,  however, 
until  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century^ 
when  there  was  a  paper-mill  at  Dartford 


PAPER  145 

In  America  paper  was  first  manufactured   by' 

^    ^  America. 

William  Bradford,  the  printer,  in  1690,  at  Ger- 
mantown,  near  Philadelphia.  Having  discovered 
a  paper-maker  among  the  immigrants  to  the 
colony,  with  the  help  of  some  of  his  neighbors, 
he  started  a  paper-factory,  which  was  operated 
by  the  Rittenhouse  family  for  several  generations. 

The  paper  first  manufactured  in  Europe  was 
made  from  the  cotton-plant;  rag's  were  afterwards 
mixed  with  the  raw  material  or  substituted  for  it. 

Many  early  Arabic  manuscripts  on  paper,  dating 
from  the  ninth  century,  are  still  in  existence,  manuscripts 
Among  the  earliest  dated  documpnts  is  the  Gharibu  °"P^p^^" 
'l-Hadith,  wTitten  in  the  year  866  a.  d.  This  is  a' 
treatise  on  the  rare  and  curious  words  found  in 
the  sayings  of  Mohammed  and  his  companions, 
and  is  preserved  in  the  University  Library  of 
Leyden.  The  oldest  dated  Arabic  manuscript  on 
paper  in  the  British  Museum  is  of  the  year  960, 
and  is  a  treatise  by  an  Arabian  physician  on  the 
nourishment  of  the  different  members  of  the 
body.  In  the  Bodleian  Library  (Oxford),  is 
preserved  a  manuscript  of  a  grammatical  work 
of  974.  As  this  was  written  at  Samarkand,  the 
paper  was  probably  made  at  that  seat  of  early 
Arab  manufacture. 


146 


PAPER 


Of  the  documents  on  cotton  paper  written  in 

Early  docu- 
ments on  pa-    Europe,  the  oldest  is  the  deed  of  Kinff  Roger  of 

per,  written  ^    '  o  o 

In  Europe.  Sicily,  of  the  year  1102;  other  deeds  of  Sicihan 
kings  of  the  twelfth  century  are  recorded.  The 
oldest  known  imperial  deed  on  paper  is  a  charter 
of  Frederick  II.  to  the  nuns  of  Goess  in  Styria, 
of  the  year  1228,  now  kept  at  Vienna.  This 
emperor,  however,  in  1231,  forbade  the  use  of 
paper  for  official  documents,  which  he  desired 
inscribed  on  vellum.  The  British  Museum  pos- 
sesses astronomical  treatises  written  on  paper, 
in  an  Italian  hand  of  the  first  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Examples  of  Spanish-made 
paper  are  the  letters  addressed  from  Castile  to 
Edward  I.  of  England,  in  1279  and  subsequent 
years. 


Manufacture 
of  paper— 
first  paper- 
machines. 


At  first,  paper,  both  ancient  and  modern, 
was  made  entirely  by  hand.  In  1799  a  paper- 
machine  was  invented  by  Louis  Robert,  a 
clerk  emplo3^ed  by  the  Messrs.  Didot  of 
the  celebrated  Essonnes  mills  near  Paris,  and 
this  caused  a  great  development  of  the  in- 
dustry. The  manufacture  was  introduced  into 
England,  through  the  agency  of  the  Messrs. 
Fourdrinier,  and  the  first  paper-machine  in  that 


i 


M  on  licrts  xniidia:  ptrfc 
H  ontaJUUTnptx>pe-flutiienorti/ 
^     N  oja&profefbs  luabus&racm 
^       I    nteriocofi  muncta  iLbcri  • 
•  i    utn  prole  tnatroTusq;  nrTs 
K.  tt«  Jeos  ptous  idpvecaxv 
V  trtutcfuneros  morcpairutn-clt»«r« 
^  I-  tdtsrcmyccocarrrwnetibiii 


1>  ro^etuem  ucncns  canttruw  i 

O    M    F  C-n-niirmm  hbM-cju«tyt3t»  Cculnmi4j, 
dnn- : 

O    DO   N^A   £>    /\  E  C   1    H  ATE 


Bi5  ttburnts  tnccraltaTiauim 
A  tn  K^propugTUcuu. 
j>  ^araais  onvne  c^fens  pcrtcttUxm 
f.c;  ubtrctneccmasTuo 
'  O  ui<l  nos  quibus  tsr  tuta  fupcrftttc 
I    ocuti  da  fi  cotma.  crraxxi$ 
;V  trutnnciufltpcritauemarocitrm: 
H  cmduIctnt-cenunftTmil 
A  nbunctabofanmencff'Atun<{ecer 

f  ermvasrdtr  ttct^cr4piUniuiM>w^ 


A  PAGE  FROM  THE  "ODES    OF    HORACE,"    AM    ITALIAN    MANU- 
SCRIPT OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.     [From  Humphreys  ] 


PA  FEB  147 

countrj'  was  erected  in  1804,  at  Frogmoor  Mill, 
near  Boxmoor,  Herts.  Henry  and  Sealy  Fourd- 
rinier,  of  London,  bought  the  English  patents,  and 
so  perfected  the  machine  that  it  has  since  been 
given  the  name  of  Fourdrinier.  In  America  the 
first  steam  paper-mill  was  started  at  Pittsburg, 
in  1816.  The  first  cylinder  machine  for  the 
manufacture  of  paper,  was  designed  by  Thomas 
Gilpin,  and  was  erri'^eyjed  by  him,  in  1817,  in 
his  mills  on  the  Brandywine.  Since  1820  paper 
made  by  machinery  has  supplanted  hand-made' 
paper,  except  fine  grades  used  for  special  pur- 
poses. 

The  staples,  or  the  materials,  from  which  writ- 
ing and  printing  papers  are  made  are  wood-pulp, 
rags,  and  esparto.^  The  staple  of  wrapping-paper 
is  old  ropes  and  jute.  The  finest  writing  and 
printing-papers,  whether  made  by  hand  or  ma- 
chinery, are  manufactured  from  linen  and  cotton 
rags.  A  great  part  of  paper-making  material 
is  a  by-product  obtained  from  the  refuse  of  other 
manufactures,  such  as  waste  paper,  rags,  old  rope, 
old  bagging,  etc.  At  the  present  day  paper  is  put 
to  so  many  uses  that  rags  cannot  be  procured  in 


Paper  staples. 


'  Esparto  is  the  name  of  two  or  three  species  of  grass  found  in 
Southern  Europe  and  Northern  Africa. 


148 


PAPER 


Wood-pulp 
and  wood- 
flbre. 


Preparation 
of  the  stock. 


sufficient  quantities,  hence  the  greater  amount  of 
even  white  paper  is  now  made  from  wood-fibre.. 
Paper  can  be  made  of  ahnost  any  vegetable  fibre, 
but  those  fibres  are  strongest  which  are  most 
completely  interlaced.  The  woods  generally  used 
are  the  poplar,  pine,  spruce,  and  hemlock. 

The  idea  of  making  paper  from  wood-pulp 
arose  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Various  patents  were  granted,  but  it  was  not  until 
about  1855  that  wood  began  to  take  the  place  of 
rags  for  book  and  newspaper  work.  A  distinction 
must  be  made  between  wood-pulp  and  wood-fibre : 
the  pulp  is  produced  by  mechanical  means,  or  by 
grinding;  the  fibre  by  chemical  treatment,  or  b}'' 
a  process  which  separates  from  the  wood  all 
resinous  and  gummy  substances,  and  leaves  what 
is  called  cellulose,  or  fibre  divested  of  all  incrust- 
ing  matter.  Wood-pulp  generally  receives  an 
admixtm-e  of  wood-fibre  to  give  it  strength. 

The  manufacture  of  paper  really  begins  with 
the  first  step  required  to  prepare  the  stock.  In 
making  wood-pulp,  the  bark  and  knots  are  first 
separated  from  the  wood.  .  The  wood  is  then  cut  into 
convenient  lengths  and  put  into  a  machine  termed 
a  wood-pulp  grinder,  which  tears  off  the  fibres. 
To  produce  wood,  or  chemical,  fibre,  the  wood  is  cut 


PAPER  149 

into  chips,  dusted,  and  then  boiled  in  an  alkaline 
or  acid  solution  in  a  vessel  known  as  a  digester. 
The  chemicals  separate  the  gummy  or  resinous 
substances  from  the  fibre  which,  when  washed 
and  bleached,  is  almost  pure  cellulose.  It  is  soft 
and  of  considerable  strength. 

Esparto,  or  Spanish  grass,  is  cleaned  and  sorted 
by  hand,  and  is  afterwards  boiled  in  an  alkaline 
solution.  Jute,  hemp,  and  waste  paper  are  all 
treated  in  about  the  same  way,  being  boiled  in 
alkaline  solutions.  Cotton  and  linen  rags  are 
passed  first  through  threshers,  then  through  cut- 
ters, and  are  afterwards  boiled  in  a  solution  of 
caustic  soda. 

After  the  preparation  of  the  staple,  the  making 
of  it  into  pulp  and  the  manufacture  of  the  pulp 
into  paper  are  about  the  same  whether  rags  or  other 
varieties  of  stock  are  employed.  The  process  of 
the  preparation  of  the  pulp,  whether  for  machine 
or  for  hand-made  paper  is  substantially  the  same, 
but  in  making  paper  by  machinery  each  operation 
is  performed  on  a  larger  scale. 

In  making  paper  by  machinery,  the  rags  are  first  paper-mak- 
put  into  a  thresher  or  dusting-machine.  After  they  chinery. 
have  passed  through  this,  women  sort  them  by  hand, 
and  remove   all  extraneous  substances,   such   as. 


150  PAPSB 

buttons,  hooks  and  eyes,  bone,  india-rubber, 
leather,  and  pieces  of  metal,  at  the  same  time  loos- 
ening all  hems  and  knots.  The  rags  are  then  cut 
into  small  pieces,  either  by  hand  or  machinery; 
for  the  common  qualities  of  paper,  machine- 
cutting  is  used.  \'\n:ien  the  rags  are  cut  by  hand, 
the  sorter  stands  at  a  long  table,  to  which  scythe- 
blades  are  attached;  the  back  of  the  blade  is 
towards  the  sorter,  who  drav.'s  the  cloth  against  the 
edge.  The  rags  are  again  dusted  and  sent  to  open- 
ings in  the  floor  of  the  room,  underneath  which 
are  brought  the  mouths  of  large  boilers  called 
rotaries.  The  boilers  contain  a  solution  of  soda 
ash,  caustic  soda,  or  lime  in  water.  The  mouths 
of  the  rotaries  arc  closed,  steam  is  introduced, 
and  the  rags  are  boiled  under  jDressure  for  several 
hours;  by  this  treatment  all  fatty,  glutinous,  or 
coloring  substances  are  separated  from  the 
pure  fibre.  Afterwards,  the  rags  are  drained 
and  taken  to  the  washing-and-beating  engines. 
They  are  sometimes  washed  in  one  engine  and 
beaten  in  another,  sometimes  both  operations  are 
performed  in  the  same  machine.  This  engine  is 
an  oblong  shallow  tub  or  vat.  The  rags  are  placed 
in  it,  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  and  are 
brought  by  power  under  the  action  of  two  sets  of 


PAPER  151 

knives,  by  which  they  are  subdivided.  The  water  in 
the  washing  cyUnders  is  constantly  changing,  thus 
affording  a  continual  supply  of  fresh  water  and 
the  carrying  off  of  the  dirty  fluid.  The  rags  are 
thus  treated  from  three  to  five  hours,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  they  are  sufficiently  cleansed.  They 
are  now  known  as  half-stuff. 

The  next  step  is  bleaching.  A  solution  of  chlor- 
ide of  lime  and  some  sulphuric  acid  are  added  to 
the  half-stuff,  which  is  emptied  into  a  chest  or 
drainer.  Here  the  bleaching  is  finished.  The 
pulp  is  then  washed  to  free  it  from  the  chemical 
products  adhering  to  it,  and  for  this  purpose  it 
is  again  put  into  the  engine  or  tub,  the  roller  with 
knives  being  raised  to  avoid  cutting  the  fibre.  The 
stock  is  now  beaten  to  the  desired  fineness  and 
sent  to  the  stuff-chest.  This  completes  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  pulp. 

From  the  stuff-chest  the  pulp  is  pumped  into 
a  regulating-box,  or  supply-box.  The  stuff  is  sent 
to  the  Fourdrinier  machine  through  a  pipe  con- 
taining a  rapidly-flowing  stream  of  water.  After 
passing  through  the  preliminary  parts  of  the 
machine,  the  pulp  is  deposited  upon  a  wire-cloth, 
which  is  a  huge  belt,  having  both  a  forward 
and  a  lateral  motion.     The  pulp  is  laid  upon  this 


152  PAPER 

belt  evenly,  and  is  still  in  a  liquid  condition;  the 
water  oozes  out  through  the  bottom  into  a  de- 
pression below.  The/constant  vibration  of  the 
wire-cloth,  by  means  of  a  shake  attachment,  throws 
some  of  the  fibres  across  the  machine,  while  the 
motion  or  travel  of  the  belt  causes  the  lay  of  the 
fibre  in  the  other  direction.  Endless  rubber-bands, 
called  deckles,  extend  on  each  side  on  top  of  the 
wire;  these  prevent  the  pulp  from  spreading  .be- 
yond the  edges  of  the  wire,  and  also  determine  the 
width  of  the  paper.  The  deckles  continue  about 
two-thirds  of  the  distance  of  the  run  of  the 
belt;  by  that  time  the  paper  is  formed,  but  is 
not  sufficiently  compact.  A  cylindrical  frame 
covered  with  wire-cloth,  known  as  the  dandy- 
roll,  passes  over  the  paper  and  presses  the  fibres 
more  closely  together.  Upon  the  dandy-roll  are 
frequently  placed  letters,  monograms,  or  other 
signs,  which  maj^  be  seen  in  the  finished  paper  when 
held  up  to  the  light.  To  produce  these  marks 
in  the  paper,  some  of  the  wires  are  made  to  pro- 
ject a  little  more  than  usual,  or  other  wires  are 
fastened  over  them,  the  paper  thereby  being 
made  thinner  in  such  places.  These  letters  or 
signs  are  produced  also  by  depressing  the  wires 
where  a  mark  is  desired,  thus  causing  the  paper 
in  those  places  to  be  thicker. 


PAPER  153 

The  web  then  passes  over  the  suction-boxes,  and 
just  as  it  leaves  the  wire-cloth  it  passes  under  the 
couch-rolls,  after  which  moisture  is  expelled  by 
two  sets  of  rollers.  The  remaining  moisture  is 
driven  out  by  heat.  So  far,  no  heat  has  been 
cmplOTed. 

'"ttie  paper  is  now  sent  to  the  driers,  a  series  of  Driers 
iron  cylinders  of  large  diameter,  heated  by  steam. 
Accompanied  by  a  belt  of  duck,  it  passes  over 
and  under  the  cylinders,  becoming  drier  and  more 
solid  as  it  approaches  the  end  of  the  machine. 
The- web  then  passes  into  a  tub  of  animal  sizing. 
If  the  paper  is  to  be  "  loft-dried,"  it  is  cut  into  . 
sheets  and  taken  to  the  loft,  where  it  is  hung  on 
poles.  The  cheaper  varieties  remain  there  two 
days,  the  finer  grades  a  week.  "  Machine-dried  " 
paper  passes  from  the  size-tub  into  a  mechanical 
drier,  without  being  cut  into  sheets. 

The  Fourdrinier  machine,  above  described,  has  „, 

'      _  ^  '  The  Fourdn- 

been  improved  in  all  its  details,  but  in  theory  its  "^^^^'^' 
construction  is  about  the  same  as  when  invented 
by  Robert.     This  machine  was  first  employed  in 
the  United  States  about  1827  at  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, i 
On  the  Cylinder   machine   no  lateral  motion  is  ^,       ,.  , 

•^  The  Cyhuder 

given  to  the  wire-cloth;  the  paper  therefore  felts  machine. 


154 


PAPER 


Calenders. 


Supercalen- 
ders. 


Sizing. 


Loading, 


in  but  one  direction.  Paper  made  on  the  Cylinder 
machine  is  stronger  in  the  direction  of  its  length 
than  that  made  by  the  Fourdrinier,  but  is  weaker 
in  its  breadth.  This  machine  is  used  in  the 
United  States  for  the  manufacture  of  hanging 
papers,  wrapping  papers,  and  straw  and  binders' 
boards. 

To  receive  a  finish,  all  papers  i^ass  through  a 
"stack"  of  calenders,  which  consists  of  a  series  of 
polished  iron  rollers,  mounted  one  above  the  other. 
Paper  which  goes  but  once  through  the  calenders  is 
given  the  name  of  "  machine-finish."  Loft-dried 
paper  is  calendered  in  single  sheets  ;  machine- 
dried  in  the  roll. 

To  supercalender  paper,  it  is  passed  between  a 
series  of  rollers  called  supercalenders ;  some  of 
these  are  made  of  chilled  iron,  others  of  sheets  of 
paper  or  of  compressed  disks  of  cotton. 

Sizing  is  given  to  paper  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
moving its  porous  and  absorbent  character,  so  that 
when  written  upon  the  ink  will  not  spread.  Vege- 
table sizing  is  put  into  the  engines;  animal  sizing 
is  given  on  the  machine,  by  passing  the  web 
through  a  trough  containing  a  solution  of  gelatine. 

To  fill  up  the  pores  or  interstices,  paper  is 
loaded  with  some  other  substance.     This  not  only 


STACK  OK   O'J-INCU  SIPKKCA  I.KN  I  >KKS— FltONT  VIKW. 


PAPER  155 

gives  the  paper  a  finer  surface  but  also  makes ' 
it  heavier.  Kaolin  or  china  clay  is  the  load- 
ing material  for  ordinary  paper;  for  the  finer 
grades,  sulphate  of  lime  or  pearl  hardening  is  used. 
The  clay  is  made  into  a  thin  cream  and  is 
put  into  the  pulp  while  the  latter  is  in  the 
b.cating-engine. 

When  paper  first  comes  from  the  machine,  lit- 

Surface-coat- 

tle  ridges  or  hollows  are  found  on  its  surface,  re-  i°&- 
sembling  those  on  the  rind  of  an  orange.  To 
make  the  paper  smoother,  it  is  surface-coated 
with  some  white  substance,  and  the  most  delicate 
half-tones  can  then  be  printed  upon  it.  In  sur- 
faced papers  the  mixture  is  applied  by  brushes, 
and  the  paper  is  calendered  by  steel  rollers  to  the 
degree  of  finish  desired.  The  oftener  the  paper 
passes  through  the  rollers,  the  higher  will  be  the 
finish.  Some  papers  are  brushed  to  a  finish  in- 
stead of  being  put  through  the  rollers. 

It  is  not  possible  to  make  from  the  raw  materials 
absolutely  white  paper,  as  the  web  always  inclines 
either  to  blue  or  yellow.  Paper  is  therefore 
shaded  slightly  towards  a  buff  or  bluish  tint,  shading. 
This  is  generally  accomplished  by  putting  a  color- 
ing substance,  which  dissolves  very  slowly,  into 
the  pulp  in  the  engine. 


156 


PAPER 


Paper-mak- 
ing by  band. 

Ar  is  substantially  the  same 


Wove  paper. 


Laid  paper. 


As  has  been  stated  above,  the  preparation  of  the 
pulp,  whether  for  hand-  or  machine-made  paper, 

The  old  stamps  or 
beaters  have  been  superseded  by  the  Hollander 
or  beating-engine  which  is  still  in  use.  In  making 
paper  by  hand,  the  pulp  is  carried  to  the  working- 
vat,  a  vessel  cither  of  wood  or  stone,  about  five  feet 
square  and  four  feet  deep,  with  a  flaring  top.  In  the 
vat  the  pulp  is  mixed  with  water  and  is  heated  by 
means  of  a  steam-pipe.  The  mould  for  making 
the  paper  is  a  wooden  frame,  with  bars  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  apart,  flush  with  one  edge  of  the 
frame.  Parallel  wires,  about  fifteen  or  twenty  to 
the  inch,  are  laid  upon  these  bars,  lengthwise  of 
the  frame.  A  movable  frame,  called  a  deckle,  fits 
upon  the  mould,  the  two  forming  a  shallow  tray, 
■uith  a  wire  bottom  like  a  sieve.  Paper  made  in 
such  a  mould  is  known  as  "wove"  paper.  ^ When 
small  wires  placed  close  together,  with  coarser 
wires  running  across  them  at  equidistant  intervals, 
form  the  bottom  of  the  mould,  in  place  of  the 
wire-cloth  used  as  the  bottom  for  wove  paper, 
the  paper  made  in  such  a  mould  takes  the  irn- 
pression  of  all  these  wires.  It  is  then  given  the 
name  of  ''laid"  paper. 

The  mould  or  wire-frame  on  which  the  pulp  is 


PAPER  157 

formed  is  raised  where  the  water-mark,  or  trade- 
mark, is   desired.      The  sheet    in    that    part    is  The  water- 
mark. 

thereby  made  thinner  than  in  other  places,  and 
the  design  remains  impressed  in  each  sheet. 

The  workman  dips  the  mould  into  the  vat  con- 
taining the  fluid  pulp,  and  takes  up  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  form  a  sheet  of  paper.  Great  dex- 
terity is  needed  to  make  a  perfect  sheet,  and 
to  follow  this  with  other  perfect  sheets,  all  of 
even  weight;  this  depends  on  the  skill  of  eye  and 
hand  acquired  by  experience.  The  vatman  gives 
the  mould  an  oscillating  motion,  to  cause  the 
intermixture  of  the  fibres  necessary  to  secure 
uniformity  of  texture.  Gradually  the  water 
drains  through,  the  pulp  solidifies  and  assumes  a 
peculiar  shiny  appearance,  which  indicates  the 
completion  of  the  first  step  of  the  process.  The 
deckle  is  then  taken  off,  and  the  mould  is  sent  to 
a  workman  known  as  the^'coucher,"  who  deposits 
the  sheet  upon  a  piece  of  felt.  Another  piece 
of  felt  is  placed  upon  the  paper,  and  this  process 
is  continued  until. the  pile  contains  six  or  eight 
quires.  The  pile  is  then  subjected  to  great  pres- 
sure. A  workman  known  as  the  "layer"  separates 
the  pieces  of  felt  and  the  paper.  The  sheets  are 
again  pressed  to  remove,  so  far  as  possible,  the  felt- 


158  PAPER 

marks  and  the  moisture,  and  are  then  himg  in  a 
loft  to  dry.  When  dry,  the  paper  is  sized. 
Sizing  is  made  of  some  material  containing  a  great 
deal  of  gelatine,  such  as  sheeps'  feet  or  pieces  of 
skin  cut  off  by  curriers  before  the  hides  are 
tanned.  These  materials  are  boiled  to  a  jelly 
and  strained,  and  a  small  quantity  of  alum 
is  added.  The  sheets  are  spread  out  in  a  tub 
containing  the  sizing  diluted  with  water.  Care 
is  taken  that  the  sheets  shall  be  equally  moistened. 
After  sizing,  the  paper  is  again  pressed  and  slowly 
dried.  Women  take  out  the  knots  and  im- 
perfections with  small  knives,  and  separate  the 
perfect  from  the  imperfect  sheets.  After  being 
again  pressed,  the  paper  is  finished  and  counted 
into  reams.  These  reams  when  pressed  and  tied 
up  are  ready  to  be  sent  to  the  M'arehouse.  There 
is  but  one  mill  in  the  United  States  which  pro- 
duces hand-made  paper,  that  of  the  L.  L.  Brown 
Paper  Company  at  Adams,  Massachusetts.  In  the 
^'at-mills  of  Europe,  after  the  preparation  of  the 
pulp  by  machinery,  paper  is  made  by  hand  in 
about  the  same  way  as  in  this  country.  In  some 
towns  the  same  process  has  been  employed  for  sev- 
eral centuries.  In  a  number  of  the  ancient  mills  at 
Amalfi,  Italy,  the  rags  are  still  beaten  by  hammers. 


PAPER  159 

Deckle-edge  is  the  name  given  to  papers  which 
are  rough  on  the  outer  edges.     In  making  paper  Deckie-edged 

papers. 

by  hand,  the  pulp  is  shaken  in  a  sieve,  and  the 
sides  therefore  are  uneven.  When  paper  first 
issues  from  the  machine,  it  is  rough  on  the  outer 
edges,  next  to  the  decides,  and  is  afterwards 
trimmed.  Deckle-edged  macliine  paper,  however, 
can  be  made  in  narrow  strips  of  any  desired  width. 
This  is  done  by  putting  in  a  number  of  deckle- 
straps  on  the  wire-cloth,  so  as  to  give  the  true 
deckle.  The  edge  thus  formed  is  more  feathery 
than  that  of  regular  hand-made  paper;  it  occurs 
on  two  sides  instead  of  four. 


Classes  of 
paper. 


Paper  may  be  divided  into  four  general  classes: 
Printing-paper  (book  and  newspaper),  Writing- 
paper,  Wrapping-  or  Packing-paper,  and  special  or 
miscellaneous  papers. 

Machine-finish. — A  paper  with  an  unglazed  sur- 
face,  having  passed  but  once  through  the  calen-  papers, 
ders. 

Wove. — A  paper  which  receives  no  other  impres- 
sion than  that  made  by  the  weave  of  the  wire-cloth 
and  the  dandy-roll. 

Laid. — When  made  by  hand,  a  paper  which 
takes  the  impression  of  both  the  small  and  the 


160  PAPER 

coarse  wires  which  form  the  bottom  of  the 
mould.  In  machine-made  paper,  the  equidistant 
parallel  lines  are  produced  by  a  series  of  wires 
which  pass  around  the  exterior  of  the  dandj^-roll. 

Calendered. — A  paper  which  receives  a  surface 
by  being  passed  through  a  series  of  polished  iron 
rollers,  known  as  calenders.  This  operation  makes 
the  paper  even  and  also  gives  it  a  gloss. 

Super  calendered. — A  paper  which  receives  a 
still  higher  finish  by  being  subjected  to  the  action 
of  supercalenders,  which  are  a  series  of  rollers, 
some  made  of  chilled  iron,  others  of  sheets  of  paper 
or  of  compressed  disks  of  cotton. 

Coated. — A  paper  which  has  received  a  coating 
of  a  white  substance,  such  as  china  clay,  or  gyp- 
sum, sulphate  of  barytes,  etc. 

Coated  and  supercalendered  papers  are  used 
for  first-class  magazines  and  for  illustrated  books, 
as  they  take  the  impression  of  a  plate  better  than 
many  other  papers. 

Enameled  papers  are  coated  with  a  colored 
substance  which  adds  both  to  their  weight  and 
thickness.     They  are  used  for  covers. 

Deckle-edged  papers  are  rough  on  the  outer 
edges.  They  are  made  both  by  hand  and 
machinery. 


PAPER  161 

Plate  paper. — Paper  which  has  passed  between 
highly  polished  metal  plates  or  heavy  roUers 
that  give  a  powerful  pressure.  Plate  paper  is  a 
high  grade  of  book  stocky  and  has  the  same  finish 
on  both  sides.  It  takes  well  the  impression  of 
printer's  ink,  and  receives  the  most  delicate  lines 
of  half-tones. 

Copperplate  paper  is  unsized  paper,  unfinished 
on  one  side  and  calendered  on  the  other. 

Writing-paper  has  a  smooth  surface,  as  it  is 
made  with  a  sizing  or  glue.  Without  the  sizing,  pers!°^^^ 
the  ink  would  penetrate  the  paper  and  render  each 
line  of  the  writing  too  thick.  It  sometimes  has  the 
same  name,  but  not  always  the  same  size,  as  print- 
ing-papers. 

Among  writing  papers  are: 

Bond. — A  fine  stock  of  paper,  usually  uncalen-   , 
dered  and  very  strong.  ' 

Linen. — A  paper  made  from  the  same  stock  as 
bond,  but  laid  and  usually  of  a  rougher  finish. 

Ledger. — The  finest  qualities  of  writing-paper 
large  in  size.  Ledger-paper  is  very  strong  and 
has  good  erasing  qualities.  i 

The  fine  varieties  of  writing-papers  are,  of 
course,  made  of  linen  rags. 


162  PAPEB 

Some  of  the  special  papers  are  used  just  as  they 
come  from  the  mill;  others  are  prepared  for  spe- 
cial purposes  by  manufacturers  known  as  con- 
converted*^     verters.      These  products   may   be  divided    into 
papers.  special    papers    and   converted    papers.      Among 

special  papers  may  be  mentioned  blotting,  copying, 
India,  Japan,  manifold,  parchment,  rice,  sand, 
safety,  silver,  sponge,  and  tracing  paper;  among 
converted  papers  are  carbolic  acid,  carbon,  emery, 
glass,  gold  or  gilt,  oiled,  photographic,  satin,  sil- 
ver, and  test  paper.  Coated  paper,  safety  paper, 
and  tracing  paper  are  sometimes  subjected  to 
treatment  by  converters. 


CHAPTER  V 


PENS   AND    LEAD-PENCILS 


THE  quills  of  gccso    and  crows  were  probabl}' 
11  •.•  •      X  +  1       Quill  pens, 

empioyeii   as    v\-riting    instruments  as  early 

as  the  first  century  a.  d.  Quills  are  obtained 
principally  from  the  wings  of  the  goose,  although 
the  wing-feathers  of  the  swan  and  some  other 
birds  are  used.  During  the  middle  ages  the  quill 
was  the  writing  implement  universally  employed, 
and  it  continued  to  be  the  favorite  instrument 
until  the  introduction  of  the  steel  pen  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  best  quills  were  prepared 
in  Russia  and  Holland.  Writers  sometimes  made 
their  own  pens  from  prepared  quills,  but  the  art 
was  a  veiy  difficult  one  to  acquire.  To  prepare 
quills,  they  are  sorted,  clarified  in  hot  sand,  and  di- 
vested of  the  outer  skin;  they  are  then  dipped  into 
boiling  almn  water  or  a  boiling  solution  of  diluted 
nitric  acid,  which  gives  the  necessary  degree  of 
hardness.  Some  writers  still  prefer  quills,  and  these 
articles  can  be  obtained  from  the  large  stationers. 
(163) 


164 


PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS 


Experiments 
with  other 
materials. 


Metal  pens. 


In  order  to  furnish  an  instrument  more  dur- 
able than  the  quill,  experiments  were  made  with 
horn,  tortoise-shell,  glass,  steel,  silver,  and  gold, 
resulting  in  the  adoption  of  steel  as  the  most  satis- 
factory substance.  The  glass  pen  was  merely  a 
ground  stick.  Horn  and  shell  softened  under  the 
action  of  the  ink,  and  silver  pens,  although  thought 
to  be  a  success,  were  finally  abandoned  because 
of  a  failure  to  temper  them  properly  and  their 
liability  to  wear  at  the  point.  Quills  were  also 
pointed  with  metal,  and  pens  of  horn  and  tor- 
toise-shell sometimes  had  small  pieces  of  hard 
gems  embedded  in  them,  or  bits  of  gold  attached 
to  the  points;  such  pens,  however,  were  too 
costly  to  become  articles  of  common  use. 

Metal  pens  were  evidently  used  to  some  ex- 
tent by  the  ancient  Roman^^  A  bronze  pen,  nibbed 
like  a  modern  steel  pen,  was  discovered  at  Pom- 
peii, and  is  now  preserved  in  the  museum  at 
Naples;  another  pen  of  the  same  material  was  found 
at  Herculanemn.  Bronze  and  silver  pens  were 
sometimes  employed  in  the  middle  ages;  but 
these  and  all  metallic  pens  of  dates  prior  to 
the  nineteenth  century,  were  never  in  general 
use,  and  may  be  regarded  in  the  light  of 
curiosities. 


PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS  165 

The  honor  of  the  invention  of  making  steel 
pens  from  sheet-metal  has  had  many  claimants, 
but  the  first  manufacturer  of  these  articles  is  really 
unknown.  It  is  said  that  Arnoux,  a  French  me- 
chanic, made  metal  pens  with  side-slits  in  1750. 
The  earhest  English  steel  pens,  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  we  have  any  positive  knowledge, 
were  those  made  for  Dr.  Priestley,  by  Mr.  Harri- 
son, split-ring  maker  of  Birmingham,  towards  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  They  were  made 
of  sheet  steel,  in  the  form  of  a  tube,  and  were  filed 
into  shape,  the  slit  being  made  by  the  joining  of  the 
metal.  Brass  pens  were  in  use  in  England  before 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Barrel  pens 
of  steel  were  sold  in  London  in  1803,  but  they 
were  too  high  in  price  for  the  general  market. 
In  1808  the  first  English  patent  for  the  manu- 
facture of  steel  pens  was  granted  to  Bryan  Donkin. 
In  America  the  fii'st  patent  for  the  m.anufacture 
of  metallic  pens  was  obtained  in  1810  by  Pere- 
grine Williamson  of  Baltimore.  Mr.  James  Perry 
made  .steel  pens  at  Manchester  in  1819,  using  the 
best  Sheffield  steel.  Afterwards  he  removed  to 
London  and  continued  his  experiments  in  the 
production  of  better  pens.  In  1830  Perry  took 
out  a  patent  for  improvements.     Joseph   Gillott 


steel  pens. 


166  PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS 

began  experiments  in  1821.  The  improvements 
made  by  these  two  manufacturers,  Perry  and 
Gillott,  put  on  a  permanent  basis  the  steel-pen 
industry,  and  the  introduction  of  machinery  by 
the  Birmingham  manufactm"ers,  Gillott,  Mason, 
and  Mitchell,  enabled  pens  of  this  metal  to  be 
sold  cheapl}^  and  to  become  the  common  writing 
instrument.  It  was  not  until  1845,  however,  that 
the  quill  was  generally  superseded,  in  Europe 
and  America,  by  the  steel  pen.  The  Asiatic  peo- 
ples still  use  reeds  or  camel's  hair  pencils. 

From  the  sheet  of  steel  to  the  varnishing,  the 
last  stage  in  the  manufacture,  seventeen  _in.aiii 
processes,  besides  minor  operations,  are  included 
in  the  making   of  a  steel  pen. 

Steel  pens  are  manufactured  chiefly  in  Birming- 
ham, England.  France  and  Germany  have  sev- 
eral manufactories,  and  in  the  United  States, 
there  are  about  half  a  dozen,  situated  in  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Connecticut. 

In  England  the  first  gold  pens  seem  to  have 
Gold  pens.  ^^^^  produced  in  1825;  in  the  United  States, 
about  ten  years  later.  As  gold  is  too  soft  a  metal 
to  afford  a  dm'able  point,  it  is  necessary  to  tip 
the  pens  with  a  harder  substance.  Diamonds  and 
rubies  were  at  first  attached  to  the  points;  gold 


PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS  167 

pens  are  now  usually  tipped  with  a  native  alloy 
of  osmium  and  iridiimi.  The  iridium  was  formerly 
soldered  to  the  gold,  but  about  1850  it  was  dis- 
covered that  better  pens  could  be  produced  by 
embedding  the  iridiimi  in  the  gold.^^From  the 
gold  bar  purchased  from  the  United  States  Assay 
Office,  already  alloyed,  to  the  finished  product, 
gold  pens  pass  through  at  least  forty-five  different 
^ocesses.  As  they  are  so  costly,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  every  pen  should  be  perfect,  there- 
fore only  experts  are  allowed  to  test  them  before 
they  are  put  on  the  market.  At  least  four  in  a 
dozen  are  rejected  under  this  scrutiny. 

Although  the  steel  pens  of  Great  Britain  sur- 
pass those  of  the  United  States  in  quality  of 
metal  and  workmanship,  the  latter  country  stands 
first  in  the  manufacture  of  gold  pens,  and  sends 
these  articles  to  Great  Britain  and  other  European 
countries. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  present  century, 
various  experiments  were  made  to  produce  self- 
feeding  pens,  but  it  was  not  until  about  J.8.79.that 
they  were  made  to  operate  successfully.  The 
fountain  pen,  as  usually  constructed,  consists  of  Fountain 
a  tubular  holder  tightly  closed  at  its  upper  end. 
At  the  lower  end  is  inserted  a  nib  pen  of  gold, 


168  PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS 

with  an  inlc-feeder  near  it,  to  draw  the  ink  from 
the  reservoir.  The  admission  of  air  at  the  lower 
end  secures  a  constant  automatic  feeding  by- 
means  of  capillary  attraction  between  the  feed- 
plate  and  the  pen.  The  principle  of  the  fomitain 
pen  is  the  retention,  by  atmospheric  pressure,  of  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  the  fluid  to  serve  for  several 
hours  of  continuous  writing,  thus  preventing  the 
interruption  caused  by  constantly  dipping  into  an 
ink-well. 

The  first  pictures  were  probably  traced  with 
Lead-pencils.  \^jjj^-pQ  of  colored  earth  or  chalk,  cut  in  such  forms 
as  could  be  conveniently  held  in  the  hand.  As 
early  as  the  fourth  centiu-y  b.  c,  artists  in  Greece 
used  wet  colors  which  were  applied  vdth  fine  hair- 
brushes. Some  of  the  papyri  and  other  early  docu- 
ments were  ruled  with  ordinary  metallic  lead.  In 
the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  centiu-y,  pencils 
called"  plimmiets  "  were  still  made  of  soft  lead  ham- 
mered into  form.  At  the  present  day  graphite, 
also  known  as  plumbago  or  blacklead,  mixed  with 
soft  clay,  is  the  material  generally  employed. 

It  is  not  known  when  pencils  of  graphite  first 
came  into  use,  but  it  is  probable  that  they  v;ere 
em£lqyed_by  the  middle  of  jhe  sixteenth  century. 


PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS  169 


In  that  century  a  mine  of  very  pure  graphite  was 
discovered  in  Cumberland,  England,  and  vras 
famous  for  a  long  time  as  the  Borrowdale  mine. 
This  mine  has  been  exhausted  since  1850,  but  ^aiemSe^' 
while  the  supply  lasted  pencils  were  made  of  the 
native  graphite  as  taken  from  the  mine.  After  this 
som'ce  failed,  graphite  was  hardened  by  an  admix- 
ture of  clay,  both  substances  being  finely  sub- 
divided and  purified.  This  method  was  introduced 
at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  the 
Count  of  Paris. 
At  the  present  time,  lead  pencils  are  made  as 

^  7  r  The  method 

follows:  Graphite,  finely  ground  and  freed  from  J^^^^f^^^jg 
all  gnt__and_  impurities,  is  mixed  with  clay  to 
give  it  hardness.  The  mixture  is  spun  through 
dies  by  pressure,  and  the  leads  are  cut  into  the 
required  lengths.  The  strips  are  baked  to  ren- 
der them  strong  and  are  afterwards  placed  in 
grooved  cedar  slabs.  The  slabs  are  fashioned  by 
machinery  into  pencils  and  are  finished  in  any 
style  desired. 

Colored  pencils  are  made  of  colored  pigments 
and  wax.  They  are  manuTacTured^in" "about  the 
same  way  as  black  pencils,  except  that,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  the  materials,  they  cannot  be  sub- 
jected to  the  baking  process. 


170  PENS  AND  LEAD-PENCILS 

The  great  pencil  factory  of  the  Faber  family  was 
established  at  Nuremberg  in.  1761,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  black  and  colored  lead-pencils  is  still 
extensively  carried  on  there.  Pencils  are  also  made 
in  the  United  States  and  in  France  and  Austria. 
The  cedar  is  obtained  largely  from  the  forests  of 
Florida  and  Bohemia. 


CHAPTER  VI 

INK 

TTERY  little  is  definitely  known  of  the  composi- 
'tioiTor 'ancient  inks.  The  black  liquid  oLthe  Ancient  inks, 
cuttlefish  v.'as  employed  in  the  early  -ages-  as  a 
writing  fluid.,.  As  the  ancients  used  the  stilus  they 
must  have  had  also  carbon  inlvs  similar  to  the 
inks    still     employed     by    the    Asiatic    peoples. 

i^cording  to  Pliny^I^Q^cQiideayandjibbaLaaS^ 
writers,  carbon  in  the  form  of  soot  was  the  prin- 
cipal ingredient  of  the  inks  of  t-hen-  tnne.  The 
soot  was  mixed  witraTmiicilaginous  or  adhesive 
fluid^  with  an  acid  sometimes  added  to  make  it 
bite  or  sink  into  the  papyrus.  The  use  of  iron 
salts  seems  also  to  date  from  a  remote  period. 

The  term  ink  is  applied  to  two  distinct  condi- 
tions of  coloring  matter:  the  one  a  fluid  to  be 
used  with  the  pen  or  brush;  the  other  a  glutinous 
or  adhesive  mass,  such  as  printing-ink. 

The  common  ingredients  of  black  ink  are  nut- 
galls,  sulphate  of  iron,  and  gum  arable,  the  first  Black  ink. 
two  being  chemically  combined.  The  galls  are 
first  crushed,  then  extracted  with  hot  water,  with 
cloth  filters,  in  vats  made  for  the  purpose.  These 
(171) 


172  INK 

filters  separate  the  clear  solution  from  the  woody 
and  gummy  residue.  The  galls  are  allowed  to 
steep  for  a  week  or  more,  until  the  solution  be- 
comes sufficiently  concentrated.  This  Hquid  is 
then  mixed  with  a  solution  of  copperas,  and  to  this 
mixture  are  added  free  sulphuric  acid,  the  indigo 
and  aniline  blues,  a  solution  of  gum  arable,  and 
an  antiseptic,  usually  phenol  (termed  carbolic  acid) 
or  sahcylic  acid.  The  gum  keeps  the  ink  from 
spreading  on  the  paper,  and  thus  enables  the 
writer  to  make  fine  strokes  with  the  pen.  The 
acid  gives  to  the  ink  greater  fluidity,  and  also 
prevents  the  formation  of  solid  particles  of  iron 
tannate,  and  precipitation  in  the  vessel.  The 
antiseptic  is  added  to  keep  the  ink  from 
moulding. 

Color  is  given  to  ink  by  the  addition  of  indigo- 
carmine  and  some  aniline  blue.  True  fluid  inks 
containing  a  blue  coloring  matter  were  first  made 
in  1856,  by  Stephens  of  London.  He  employed 
only  the  indigo,  as  aniline  blue  was  not  then 
known.  The  color  of  the  ink  is  at  fu'st  a  deep 
blue,  tiu-ning  to  black  after  writing. 

The  yellow  appearance  of  old  "WTiting  is  due  to 
the  decay  of  ttie  vegetable  matter,  mere  rust^ 
o^r~per6xrde  'l)T~rroh    being   left.     Such  writing 


Printing-ink. 


INK  173 

can  be  rendered  blacker  and  more  legible  by  the 
use  of  prussiate  of  potash  and  dilute  hydrochloric 
or  sulphuric  acid,  or  by  the  infusion  of  galls.  Ver}^ 
ancient  manuscripts  have  been  thus  restore^.  ^A 
work  on  Roman  Law,  by  Gains,  was  deciphered  by 
applying  an  iufuj^ioii  of  galls.  ; 

rrmting-mk  is'a  mixture  of  boiled  oil  and  black 
or  colored  pigment.     In  black  ink,  the  pigment 
is  lampblack  or  other   carbonaceous  matter.     To 
these   chief   ingredients,  are  added  rosin,  turpen-j 
tine,  and  common  yellow  rosin  soap.  i 

Inks  may  now  be  manufactured  of  almost  any' 
color.  The  introduction  of  the  coal-tar  or  aniline 
dyes  has  added  greatly  to  the  variety  and  rich- 
ness of  colored  inks.  Formerly,  red  ink  was 
made  of  either  cochineal  or  Brazil-wood.  Cochi- 
neal inks  are  deep  and  rich  in  color,  but  are 
expensive.  They  are  undesirable  because  of  the 
amount  of  caustic  ammonia  necessary  to  dissolve 
the  cochineal  and  keep  it  in  solution.  Solutions 
of  coal-tar  colors  have  supplanted  the  more  ex- 
pensive Brazil-wood  and  tin-salt  red  inks.  Crim- 
son, scarlet,  and  red  inks  are  the  common  names 
of  these  solutions.  The  coloring  matter  known 
as  eosin*,  discovered  by  Caro  in  1874,  is  now  gen- 

1  Eosin  is  derived  from  the  Greek,  and  means  "  dawn  of  the  morn- 
ing," 


174  INK 

erally  employed  to  produce  these  inks.  Writing 
in  an  eosin  ink  copies  easily,  but  when  exposed 
to  a  strong  light  soon  fades. 

India  ink  contains  the  same  ingredients  as  the 
India  ink  or     inks  of  the  early  ages  and  is  the  form  in  which  ink 

China  inj£.  -^     ° 

is  still  made  and  used  in  China  and  Japan.  In 
these  countries  it  is  used  with  a  brush,  both  in 
painting  and  writing.  It  is  made  from  lamp- 
black and  a  glutinous  substance.  In  India  ink 
the  carbon  is  held  suspended  in  the  fluid  and 
is  not  dissolved  or  chemically  combined,  as  are 
the  iron  compounds  in  writing-inks.  A  perfume, 
such  as  a  mixture  of  Borneo  camphor  and  musk, 
is  added  to  the  finer  varieties.  This  ink  is 
prepared  in  the  form  of  cakes  or  sticks,  which 
are  rubbed  down  in  water  when  used.  Fluid 
India  ink  can  be  purchased  in  small  quantities. 
Various  depths  of  shade  can  be  obtained,  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  dilution  with  water.  India 
ink  is  seldom  used  for  ordinary  writing,  but  is  em- 
ployed by  engineers,  architects,  and  artists,  and 
for  special  purposes.  It  is  blacker  than  other 
inks  and  is  largely  employed  in  photo-illustration, 
which  requires  a  really  black  ink  to  produce  the 
best  effects. 

Writing  in  sympathetic  inks  becomes  visible  only 


INK  175 

when  brought  out  by  heat  or  the  influence  of  some 
chemical  reagent.   Among  the  substances  used  are  or  luvisibie 

ink. 

solutions  of  cobalt  acetate,  cobalt  chloride,  and 
nickel  chloride.  The  hydrous  cobalt  salts  are  of  a 
pale  pink  color  which  is  invisible  on  the  paper; 
when  heated  they  become  anhydrous  and  turn  blue. 
Indelible  inks  are  used  for  marking  textile 
fabrics,  and  become  a  deep  black  when  the  material  indelible  ink 

for  marking 

is  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  The  ink  textiles. 
generally  used  for  this  purpose  is  an  ammoniacal 
solution  of  nitrate  of  silver.  The  stain  produced 
by  the  ink  cannot  be  removed  by  any  reagent 
that  would  not  also  destroy  the  texture  of  the 
fabric. 

Copying  ink  is  more  concentrated  than  the 
ordinary  writing  fluids.  It  contains  some  soluble 
substance,  such  as  gum  arabic,  sugar,  or  glycerine, 
which  does  not  make  the  ink  copy  but  which 
prevents  it  from  drying  too  rapidly  or  too 
thoroughly.  When  paper  written  upon  with  copy- 
ing ink,  is  placed  against  a  moistened  sheet,  a  part 
of  the  ink  is  transferred  to  the  wet  surface,  making 
a  reverse  copy.  Translucent  paper  is  used  for 
taking  a  copy.  It  is  turned  over  so  as  to  bring 
the  letters  into  their  normal  position  and  the 
writing  is  read  from  the  upper  side. 


Copying  ink. 


Sepia. 


Removing 
iul£  stains. 


176  INK 

Sepia  is  a  dark-brown  coloring  matter  obtained 
from  the  ink-sacs  of  a  few  species  of  cuttle-fish, 
principal!}'  from  Se'pia  ofjicinalis,  which  is  abun- 
dant in  the  Adriatic  and  the  Mediterranean  Seas. 
As  soon  as  the  animal  is  captured,  the  ink-sac  is 
extracted  and  at  once  dried  to  prevent  putrefac- 
tion. The  contents  are  afterwards  powdered, 
dissolved  in  a  solution  of  ammonia  or  soda,  and 
then  precipitated  by  neutralizing  the  alkali  with 
hydrochloric  acid;  the  precipitate  is  washed  with 
water,  dried,  and  is  then  ready  to  be  made  up  into 
any  desired  form.  Sepia  is  used  by'  itself  for 
drawings;  in  combination  with  other  colors  it 
affords  various  subdued  tints.  The  color  is  per- 
manent unless  exposed  to  sunshine.  Sepia  also 
furnishes  an  India  ink. 

The  reagent  to  be  used  depends  on  the  kind 
of  ink  which  has  produced  the  stain.  The  stain 
should  first  be  dipped  into  water  to  ascertain 
the  nature  of  the  ink.  Aniline  inks  spread  more 
than  other  inks,  and  become  greenish  in  color; 
iron  and  logwood  inks  turn  brown.  If  this  test 
shows  the  ink  to  be  nigrosine  (made  from  a  coal- 
tar  color),  the  stain  should  be  treated  with  an 
alkali.  To  remove  an  iron  or  a  logwood  ink,  an 
acid  should  be  employed.     Muriatic  acid  will  re- 


INK  177 

move  logwood  ink  stains,  but  should  not  be  used 
for  an  eosin  (red)  or  a  nigrosine  ink.  Oxalic  acid 
will  efface  the  stain  of  an  old  style  iron-gall 
ink.  In  general,  aniline  inks  can  be  removed 
by  the  use  of  an  alkali;  those  failing  to  be 
affected  by  an  alkali,  should  be  treated  with  an 
acid. 

An  effective  waj''  to  remove  an  ink  stain  is  to 
cover  the  spot  first  with  bleaching-powder;  when 
this  is  moistened  with  a  weak  mineral  acid  the 
chlorine  will  be  set  free.  Strong  acids  and  alkalies 
must  not  be  used  on  colored  or  very  delicate  fabrics. 

Ink  should  always  be  kept  in  a  covered  vessel,  as 
it  becomes  thick  when  left  standing  in  an  open 
receptacle,  owing  to  the  evaporation  of  the  water. 
When  ink  contains  much  gum,  it  assumes  a  ropy 
condition  and  a  sediment  is  formed  in  the  ves- 
sel. When  the  solution  has  become  too  concen- 
trated, it  may  be  diluted  with  distilled  water. 


12 


BOOKBINDING 


(179) 


BOOKBINDING 


CHAPTER   I 

ANCIENT  COVERS EARLY  BINDINGS 

THE  earliest  attempts  to  enclose  written  matter 
_  ^  Attempts  of 

within  some  kind  of  a  cover  were  made  long  ancient  peo- 

=5    pies  to  en- 

before  the  Christian  era.  The  object  at  first  was  ^vrftings. 
merely  utility,  or  the  preservation  of  the  writing 
by  protecting  it  from  injury.  The  ancient  peo- 
ples of  Assyria  and  Egypt  devised  simple  means 
of  encasing  their  documents,  and  to  the  efforts 
thus  made  may  be  traced  the  origin  of  the  art  of 
bookbinding. 

The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  sometimes  en- 

Babylonia 

closed  one  clay  tablet  within  another,  the  outer  andAssyria. 
case  forming  a  cover  for  the  inner.     The  outer 
coating  of  clay  contained  an  exact  copy  of  the 
original,  and  rendered  the  latter  inaccessible  to 
forgers. 

In  Egypt  sheets  of  papyrus  were  glued  together 
to  form  one  long  roll.     The  papyrus  roll,  as  a  Egypt. 
rule,  was  written  on  one  side  only,  and  was  fast- 
ened to  a  wooden  rod  or  roller,  around   which  it 
was  wound. 

(181) 


182 


ANCIENT  COVERS 


A  Greek  or 
Roman  roll. 


Pugillaria. 


The  old  Greek  and  Roman  books  were  also 
scrolls  of  papyrus  resembling  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tian manuscripts.  The  rolls  were  often  beauti- 
fully written  and  richly  decorated  ;  they  were 
frequently  protected  by  covers,  which  were  made 
of  leather  or  parchment,  dyed  purple,  yellow,  or 
scarlet.  Two  strings  of  leather  or  ribbon  were 
attached  to  the  last  sheet  or  the  cover  of  the 
manuscript,  and  were  fastened  around  the  roll  to 
keep  it  tight  and  firm  and  to  protect  it  from  dust 
and  insects.  The  title  was  cither  written  on  a 
square  piece  of  A'ellum  or  parchment,  pasted  on  the 
outside  of  the  cover  near  the  top,  or  inscribed  on 
a  label  attached  to  the  roll.  The  ends  of  the  rod 
were  sometimes  level  with  the  edges  of  the  papy- 
rus, sometimes  they  projected  beyond  the  roll 
and  were  ornamented  with  balls  or  knobs  of  wood 
or  ivory,  or  even  of  gold  or  precious  stones.  In 
appearance  such  a  scroll  was  not  unlike  a  modern 
map,  and  in  this  form  it  was  passed  from  one 
person  to  another  to  be  read. 

While  the  roll  was  the  form  adopted  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  for  lengthy  works  of  a  lit- 
erary character,  for  a  long  time  they  made  use 
of  pugillaria,  or,  literally,  hand-hooks.  These  tab- 
lets, or  table-books,  were  of  ivory,  wood,  or  metal, 


ANCIENT  COVERS  183 

covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  wax,  and  were  con- 
nected at  the  back  by  rings;  they  consisted  of 
from  two  to  eight  leaves,  and  were  employed 
for  taking  notes,  keeping  accounts,  etc.  Small 
leaden  volumes  have  been  discovered  composed 
of  six  or  eight  leaves  joined  at  the  back  by 
rings.      The    square    form  proved   so  convenient 

in  the  tablet  that  it  was  finallv  adopted  for  al- 

Introduction 
most  every  kind  of  writing.      The  introduction  of  the  flat 

.     .  ,  .  book. 

of  covers  consisting  of  separate  leaves  is  credited 
to  Eumenes  II.,  King  of  Pergamiun,  but  the  flat 
book  seems  to  have  been  used  earlier  than  his 
reign  (197-159  ?  b.  c). 

The  term  codex,  which  originally  meant  the 
trunk  or  stem  of  a  tree,  was  applied  to  these  wax- 
lined  wooden  tablets.  The  name  was  given  also 
by  the  Romans  to  the  folded  parchment  volume, 
more  especially  to  account-books.  For  literary 
compositions,  the  term  was  first  applied  by  Chris- 
tian writers  to  the  sacred  Scriptures.  It  was 
occasionally  employed  by  secular  writers  at  the 
end  of  the  third  century,  but  was  not  generally 
used  until  the  fifth  century.  The  name  has  been 
retained  to  designate  the  more  important  an- 
cient manuscripts. 

The  square  form  of  book  was  even  more  beau- 


The  codex 


184 


EARLY  BINDINGS 


Decoration  of 
the  square 
book. 


The  diptych. 


tifully  decorated  than  the  manuscript  roll,  as  it 
lent  itself  more  readily  to  the  embellisher's  art. 
Carved  figures  were  generally  placed  on  the  dip- 
tych, the  name  applied  to  a  two-leaved  tablet  of 
large  dimensions  used  by  consuls  and  other  func- 
tionaries. The  Roman  consular  diptychs  are  con- 
sidered important  works  of  art,  those  discovered 
dating  from  the  middle  of  the  third  to  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century.  In  later  times  the  ivory 
panels  of  the  diptychs  were  often  transferred  to 
the  covers  of  valuable  manuscripts;  owing  to  this 
practice,  many  fine  specimens  of  sculptured 
ivories  have  come  down  to  the  present  time. 

In   the   fourth    century    of    the    present    era, 
the  roll  was  graduallv  superseded  b}^  the  folded 

Roll  super-  o  -  i 

sededby  the    yolume.    The  use  of  the  flat  form  of  book,  with  its 

folded  vol- 

^^^  decorated  and  often  sumptuous  cover,  was  due,  in  a 

great  measure,  to  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
religion.  It  was  the  custom,  in  these  early  days 
of  the  Church,  to  keep  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  on 
the  table  or  altar ;  and  for  this  purpose  and  for 
reading  certain  portions  of  the  Scriptures  during 
the  service,  the  book  was  found  much  more  con- 
venient than  the  scroll.  As  the  ritual  advanced 
the  covers  of  the  volumes  were  decorated  in  a  style 
to  accord  v/ith  the  rich  furniture  of  the  altar.    Only 


EARLY  BINDINGS  185 

the  front  of  the  book  could  be  seen  as  it  lay  upon 
the  table,  therefore  only  the  upper  side  of  the 
cover  was  ornamented,  the  reverse  being  left  plain. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  art  of  bookbinding, 
the  first  portion  of  the  work,  known  in  modern  {,Tuding°^ 
times  as  the  forwarding,  has  always  been  sub- 
stantially the  same.  The  sheets  were  stitched 
together  in  their  proper  order  and  were  attached 
at  the  back  to  leather  bands,  which  extended 
about  an  inch  beyond  the  edges  of  the  book;  the 
ends  of  the  bands  were  fastened  to  wooden 
boards  which  formed  a  cover  for  the  sides  of  the 
volume;  the  back  and  exterior  surface  of  the 
wood  were  covered  with  skin  or  leather,  the  mar- 
gins being  turned  over  the  edges  of  the  board, 
and  glued  down  on  the  inside.  Since  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  principal  changes  have  been  the  sub- 
stitution of  cords  or  strings  for  leather  bands,  of 
pasteboard  for  the  heavy  wooden  sides,  and  of 
paper  or  cloth  for  the  leather  covers. 

Before  the  sixth  century  precious  stones  began 
to  be  used  in  the  decoration  of  covers.    Byzantine 

Precious 

coatings  were  chiefly  of  metal, — gold,  silver,  and  stones, 
copper-gilt, — into  which   jewels  were  introduced. 
An  ivory  carving  was  often  placed  in  the  centre,  »^ 

with  a  border  of  gold  and  jewels  around  it. 


186  EARLY  BINDINGS 

We  find  that  in  the  middle  ages  bindings  and 
the  works  they  contain  often  belong  to  quite  dis- 
tinct periods.  Bindings  made  originally  for  small 
volumes  have  been  used  at  a  later  date  as  the 
centres  of  larger  covers  and  surrounded  with 
borders.  When  the  covers  were  veritable  works 
of  art,  decoration  was  frequently  added  in  subse- 
quent periods^  hence  it  is  often  difficult  to  fix  the 
date  with  certainty. 

During  the  middle  ages  the  monasteries  were  the 
Monastic  principal  depositories  of  learning  and  art.  The 
monks  not  only  wrote  and  illuminated  books,  but 
also  bound  them,  and  continued  to  follow  the  calling 
until  the  introduction  of  printing.  The  bindings  of 
the  books  made  by  the  monks  were  oaken  boards, 
often  an  inch  thick.  Ornaments  of  precious 
metal  were  sometimes  placed  on  the  boards  them- 
selves. When  the  boards  were  first  covered,  skins 
of  animals  were  used,  the  favorite  skin  being  stag- 
hide;  common  parchment  and  vellum  were  also 
employed.  Roughly-dressed  deerskin  or  calfskin 
was  sometimes  drawn  over  the  boards,  with  the 
hair  left  on  the  cover,  enough  of  the  hair  being  re- 
moved to  give  space  for  an  inscription.  The 
corners  were  protected  with  large  bossee  of  brass. 


EARLY  BINDINGS  187 

The  covers  were  often  embellished  with  ivory- 
carvings  of  figures  in  relief,  and  garnished  with 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones;  they  were  gen- 
erally fastened  with  a  strong  clasp  of  brass,  on 
which  the  arms  of  the  owner  were  sometimes  en- 
graved. 

In  monastic  bindings  the  sheets  were  sewed  on 
pieces  of  skin  or  parchment;  each  sheet  v/as  pro- 
tected internally  and  externally  with  a  slip  of 
parchment,  to  prevent  the  thread,  used  in  the 
sewing,  from  cutting  the  paper,  and  to  protect  the 
back  from  injury. 

Diu-ing  the  middle  ages  there  were  in  most 
European  cities  secular  craftsmen,  such  as  the 
leather- worker,  the  goldsmith,  the  sculptor,  and  the 
worker  in  enamel;  the  labors  of  all  these  work- 
men were  sometimes  combined  in  the  production 
of  a  single  cover  ;•  the  bookbinder  probably  labored 
at  other  trades  similar  to  his  own.  At  a  later 
period  the  bookbinders  became  members  of  various 
trade  guilds;  the  monasteries,  however,  still  exer- 
cised a  fostering  care  over  all  the  arts. 

Of  these  books  of  the  monks,  very  few  examples 
remain.  The  boards  which  formed  the  basis  of 
the  binding,  instead  of  protecting  the  manuscripts 
often   led   to    their  destruction;    they  became  a 


188  EARLY  BINDINGS 

lodgment  place  for  worms,  and  the  grubs  in  pro- 
cess of  time  found  their  way  to  the  pages  and 
riddled  them  with  holes.  The  revolutions  and 
reformations  which  at  different  periods  have  con- 
vulsed Europe  have,  besides,  swept  away  the 
greater  number  of  such  volumes  as  had  withstood 
the  ravages  of  time;  those  that  remain  are  price- 
less as  relics  and  are,  with  few  exceptions,  de- 
posited in  the  great  libraries  of  Europe. 

For  a  long  time,  velvet  was  used  to  cover  the 
best  works;  colored  cloth  was  also  so  employed. 
During  this  early  period  great  progress  was  being 
made  in  the  art  of  working  on  leather,  especially 
in  Germany.  The  Germans  produced  many  beau- 
feat^er^*^'  ^^^^^  stamped-leather  bindings,  ornamented  with 
bm  ngs.  nietal  clasps,  corner-pieces,  and  bosses.  Augsburg 
and  Nuremberg  were  famed  for  this  kind  of  work. 
It  was  brought  to  such  a  high  degree  of  excellence 
by  the  German  artists  that  in  richness  it  rivaled 
the  goldsmith's  work. 

In  Spain  and  Italy  bookbinding  also  flourished 
before  the  fifteenth  century.  The  city  of  Siena  has 
a  magnificent  collection  of  bindings,  extending 
from  about  the  thirteenth  to  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury.    The  covers  of  the  Treasury   books  there 


EARLY  BINDINGS  189 

preser\'ed,  and  which  have  been  framed,  are  adorned 
with  paintings  by  famous  artists.  The  binders  of 
Italy  excelled  in  beautiful  ivory,  gold,  and  jew- 
eled covers,  also  in  fine  leather  work. 

In  France,  during  this  period,  nothing  remark- 
able seems  to  have  been  achieved  in  the  way  of 
bookbinding.  From  the  inventories  of  libraries 
and  of  goods  and  jewels  belonging  to  kings  and 
nobles  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  we 
glean  some  information  as  to  the  bindings  of 
their  books.  The  covers  were  of  velvet,  silk,  em- 
broidery, and  leather,  and  were  adorned  with  orna- 
ments of  metal  and  sometimes  with  precious 
stones. 

In  fhe  eleventh  century  enameling  begins  to 
appear  in  the  decoration  of  covers.     In  the  Cluny  foTere^^^ 
Museum  at  Paris,  are  two  magnificent  plates  of 
Limoges  enamel,  which  have  evidently  been  taken 
from  the  cover  of  a  book. 


CHAPTER  II 

MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS 

TT  was  chiefly  owing   to  the  patronage  of   the 
given^to^^  wealthy  and  of  lovers  of  books  that  progress  was 

made  in  the  art  of  bookbinding.  Patrons  of  liter- 
ature existed  not  only  in  Italy,  but  in  Western 
Europe  and  England.  Bookbinding  as  a  fine 
art  began  in  Italy  during  the  Renaissance,  but 
was  most  highly  cultivated  in  France. 

Mathias  Corvinus,  King  of  Hungary,  who  died 
MathiaTcor-  in  1490,  ranks  among  the  first  patrons  of  the  art 
during  this  early  period.  He  had  a  library  of  fifty 
thousand  manuscripts  and  books,  encased  in  the 
most  costly  and  magnificent  bindings.  This 
library  was  destroyed  in  1526,  when  Solyman  II. 
laid  siege  to  Buda.  Only  a  few  volumes  escaped 
the  ravages  of  the  Turks,  and  the  greater  number 
of  these  were  placed  in  the  Imperial  Library  at 
Vienna. 

In  Italy  literature  flourished  under  the  patron- 

Italy— The  ^ 

^^1-^}  ^gG  of  the  Medici  family.     Their  books  seem  to 

have  been  embellished  without  regard  to  expense. 

(190) 


family. 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  191 

The  works  collected  by  Piero  de'  Medici  (1464- 
1469)  are  decorated  with  miniatures,  gilding,  and 
other  ornamentation,  and  are  distinguished  by 
the  fleur-de-lis.  Those  acquired  by  Lorenzo 
(1469-1492),  called  the  "father  of  literature," 
are  also  encased  in  bindings  of  great  elegance; 
they  are  stamped  with  the  Medicean  arms  and 
with  a  laurel  branch,  in  allusion  to  his  name 
Laurentius,  and  bear  the  motto  "  Semper." 

The  lavish  use  of  ornament  in  the  binding  of 
books  was  carried  into  the  sixteenth  century.  One 
of  the  most  famous  libraries  of  the  time  was 
that  of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  in  his  palace  on   the  cardinal 

Mazarin. 

Quirinal  Hill  at  Rome;  it  contained  five  thousand 
volumes,  "bound  by  artists  who  came  express 
from  Paris." 

In  Spain  encouragement  was  given  to  the  art 
by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  Confessor  to  Queen  Isabella,  dmai 
and  Phihp  II.  (1556-1598).     Saragossa  and  Seville  Phufp  ii. 
produced  many  beautiful  bindings,  but  few  have 
been  preserved  to  the  present  day. 

The  libraries  of  Germany  contain  bindings  of 
almost  every  age  and  description. 

After  the  introduction  of  the  printing-press,  the 

,»,,.,.  Trade  bind- 

work  of  the  bmder  mcreased  and  became  more  ingsand 

special  blnd- 

important,  hence  arose  a  distinction  which  remains  "^ss. 


192  MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS 

to  the  present  day, — trade  bindings  and  special 
bindings.  The  special  bindings  were  made  for 
great  collectors,  or  for  presentation  purposes. 

During  the  first  hundred  years  in  the  history 
of  typography,  the  printer  was  generally  a  sta- 
tioner and  also  a  binder,  and  if  he  had  registered 
as  a  bookseller,  he  sold  the  volumes  he  had 
bound.  These  early  productions  are  distinguished 
alike  for  beauty  of  typography  and  thoroughness 
of  worlonanship.  Many  books  bound  from  four 
to  six  hundred  years  ago  are  now  in  almost  as 
good  condition  as  when  first  issued. 

In  France,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands,  the 
bookbinders  enrolled  themselves  in  guilds;  they 
were  constantly  training  new  workmen  and  raising 
the  standard  of  their  art. 

During  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
leather  bindings  appeared  in  great  numbers, 
bindings.  As  early  as  the  twelfth  century  there  was  a  distinct 
English  school  of  binding  which  produced  beau- 
tiful tooled-leather  work.  The  sides  of  the 
covers  were  ornamented  with  small  dies  cut  in  in- 
taglio, so  that  the  impression  on  the  leather  was  in 
cameo,  or  in  relief.  Some  of  the  early  designs 
represent  men,  birds,  beasts,  and  fishes;  the  figures, 
though  grotesque,  are  full  of  expression  and  ani- 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  193 

mation.  The  die-sinker  often  copied  the  wild 
creatures  inhabiting  the  woods  and  wastes,  with 
whose  habits  he  had  long  been  familiar.  Among 
other  subjects  were  angels,  ecclesiastics,  knights 
on  horseback,  fabulous  beasts,  and  conventional 
leaf  and  flower  ornaments. 

In  the  Netherlands  large  panel-stamps  appeared 

.  .      The  panel" 

about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  it  is  stamp, 
not  known,  however,  to  whom  they  owe  their 
origin.  B}'-  means  of  the  panel-stamp  the  whole  of 
the  side  of  a  small  book  could  be  decorated  from 
one,  or  at  most  from  two  blocks.  A  century  later, 
when  many  books  of  small  size  began  to  issue  from 
the  printing-press,  this  quick  and  easy  method  of 
ornamentation  was  generally  adopted  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, France,  and  England. 

WilUam  Caxton,  who  returned  from  Bruges  to 
England  in  1477,  combined  the  art  of  binding  ton'sbfnd^^" 
with  the  printer's  craft.  The  greater  number  of 
his  books  which  have  come  down  to  us  have  been 
rebound,  but  a  few  still  retain  their  original  covers 
of  brown  stamped  leather. 

In  French  bindings  we  find  many  panel-stamps 
of  great  beauty. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  bookbinders  The  hcr-Mic 
of  London  adopted  a  pair  of  heraldic  panels  for 


194  MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS 

their  covers.  One  contained  the  royal  arms  sup- 
ported by  a  greyhound  and  a  dragon;  the  other 
a  large  Tudor  rose,  supported  by  angels,  and  a 
motto.  Under  the  rose  or  royal  shield,  the  binder 
sometimes  placed  his  initials.  All  volumes  bear- 
ing the  arms  of  kings  and  queens  have  not,  how- 
ever, at  some  time  belonged  to  the  royal  library. 
The  arms  probably  represented  some  privilege  or 
were  the  sign  of  some  guild.  John  Reynes,  a 
famous  London  printer  and  bookbinder,  employed 
two  varieties  of  heraldic  panels,  and  in  his  case 
they  represented  special  privileges. 

The  pictorial  stamp  is  not  so  often  found  in 

Jtomp^"**^"*^^  English  books  as  the  heraldic  stamp ;  it  is  probable 
that  the  greater  number  of  pictorial  stamps  used  in 
England  were  imported  from  the  Continent.  The 
service-books  brought  from  France  and  the  Nether- 
lands into  England,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
bear  the  figures  of  certain  saints,  the  most  usual 
being  St.  Catherine,  St.  Barbara,  St.  Nicholas,  and 
St.  John  the  Baptist;  St.  ]\Iichael  and  St.  George 
also  occur  in  these  early  panels. 

Books  of  large  size,  which  could  not  be  readily 

The  roll-         decoratcd  with  panel-stamps,  were    ornamented 

stamp,  ^  ^  ' 

with  roll-stamps.  With  the  introduction  of  the  roll, 
began  the  rapid  decline  of  stamped  binding.     At 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  195 

first  the  rolls  were  broad,  measuring  about  an  inch 
across,  and  produced  a  handsome  effect;  this  orna- 
mentation, however,  gradually  became  smaller, 
until  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  was 
little  more  than  a  scroll;  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury it  appeared  indented  as  in  gold-tooling. 

Many  examples  of  embroidered  book-covers  are 
found  during  the  middle  ages;  the  greater  num-  Embroidered 

o  o      '  o  book-covers. 

ber  of  the  embroidered  bindings  in  the  British 
Museum,  however,  are  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury; in  the  sixteenth  century  they  were  often 
used  for  books  of  devotion  and  for  presentation 
copies.  The  embroidery  was  worked  on  a 
foundation  of  velvet,  satin,  silk,  linen,  or  canvas ; 
the  materials  used  were  colored  silks,  wool,  worsted, 
thread,  gold  and  silver  wire,  seed  pearls,  and 
metallic  spangles.  The  ladies  of  England  pro- 
duced embroidered  covers  of  remarkable  beauty, 
and  those  of  France,  Spain,  and  the  Netherlands 
also  did  excellent  work. 

By  tooling  is  meant  impressions  made  on  leather 
by  hot  metal  dies.     When  gold  is  thus  impressed,     °°  '"^" 
the  work  is  termed  gold-tooling;  when  leather  is 
stamped  without   the   use    of  metal,  it  is  called 
blind-tooling. 


196  MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS 

In  Europe  gold-tooled  binding  was  first  known 
in  Ital}^,  where  it  had  been  introduced  from 
the  East  by  means  of  Venetian  commerce,  probably 
dm'ing  the  latter  part  of  the  iifteenth  century. 
It  afterwa,rds  became  distinctively  a  French  art. 
This  method  of  ornamentation  seems  to  have  been 
introduced  into  England  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  (1509-1547),  by  Thomas 
Berthelet  or  Bartlet. 
.,,    „  In  Italy  Aldus  Manutius  (1449-1515)  did  much 

Aldus  Manu-  •'  ^  .    ^ 

""s.  to  reform  European  bookbinding.     He  began  to 

organize  his  printing-office  in  Venice  a]3out  1489, 
and  afterv/ards  gathered  around  him  artists  and 
learned  men  both  from  the  Levant  and  from 
Western  Europe.  To  the  Academy  that  he  estab- 
lished came  Hans  Holbein,  Geoffroy  Tory,  and 
other  artists,  who  carried  back  to  Germany, 
France,  and  England  the  methods  they  had  learned 
in  Italy.  Among  the  friends  of  Aldus  were  Tom- 
maso  Maioli  and  Jean  Grolier,  the  famous  book- 
lovers.  Aldus  covered  his  volumes  with  vellum  or 
leather,  usuallj^  without  decoration  ;  his  earliest 
bindings  and  those  intended  as  gifts  to  friends 
and  patrons  were  ornamented  with  gold-tooling. 
This  great  printer  died  in  1515,  but  the  press  was 
continued  by  his  family  for  some  time  afterwards. 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  197 

Two  of  the  most  distinguished  book-collectors 
the  world  has  ever  known  were  Tommaso  Maioli 
and  Jean  Grolier. 

Maioli  lived  in  Italy  in  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  centiuy  (c.  1500-1549).  He  belonged  J[i°k>u*'° 
to  a  family  of  book  collectors ;  Michele  Maioli,  sup- 
posed to  be  either  his  father  or  his  uncle,  was  a 
scientific  wiiter  and  also  a  collector.  The  Maioli 
bindings  are  generally  in  good  taste.  The  leading 
featiu-es  of  the  ornament  are  broad  lines  edged 
with  gold,  either  curiously  interlaced,  or  running 
in  graceful  curves;  slender  sprays  of  conventional 
foliage  and  numerous  dots  of  gold  lend  elegance 
to  the  designs.  The  scrolls  and  foliage  are  often 
in  white,  edged  with  gold,  placed  on  a  dark  back- 
ground of  leather. 

Jean  Grolier  de  Servin,  Vicomte  d'Aiguise,  the 
great  French  bibliophile,  lived  from  1479  to  1565.  ^^''^  ^''>^'^- 
His  library  was  noted  for  its  beautiful  bindings. 
It  is  said  that  many  of  his  books  were  bound  in 
his  own  house,  under  his  own  eye,  and  that  he 
often  put  his  own  hand  to  them.  It  is  probable 
that  some  of  his  volumes  were  bound  for  him  in 
Italy,  during  his  residence  there.  Grolier  became 
Minister  of  Finance  to  the  kings  of  France,  and 
spent  much  time  in  Italy,  either  in  mihtary  com- 


198  MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS 

mand  or  as  an  ambassador.  In  Venice  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Aldus  and  of  the  artists  and 
learned  men  of  his  Academ}^;  he  continued  to 
patronize  the  Aldine  press  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  In  the  leisure  of  his  official  functions, 
he  sought  out  new  combinations  and  interfacings 
for  his  bindings.  Grolier,  however,  was  not  a 
binder  but  an  amateur  possessed  of  exquisite  taste 
and  with  abundant  wealth  to  indulge  it. 

It  was  the  practice  of  book-lovers  to  offer 
the  enjoyment  of  their  libraries  to  their  friends. 
Both  Maioli  and  Grolier  placed  inscriptions  or 
mottoes  upon  their  books.  One  of  the  most 
usual  employed  by  Grolier  was  "  lo  Geolierii  et 
Amicorum." 

To  Grolier  is  ascribed  the  introduction  of  letter- 
ing-pieces on  the  backs  of  books  and  placing  vol- 
umes on  the  shelves  with  the  backs  outwards.  He 
is  credited  also  with  having  been  the  first  to  use 
morocco  leather  for  binding.  • 

Cameo  bindings  originated  in  Italy,  in  the  early 
bfndings.  P^^^  °^  *^^  sixteenth  century.  The  real  cameos 
were  copies  of  antique  gems  and  medals,  made  of 
a  sort  of  lacquered  paste,  and  were  glued  into  a 
depression  on  the  side  of  the  cover;  the  French 
imitated    this    mode    of    decoration    by  simply 


OROUER  BINDING. 

[From  "  Bookbindinss  old  and  New,"  Brander  Matthews.      Bv 
permission  of  Mr.  Matthews  and  the  Macmillau  Company.] 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  199 

stamping  the  leather  in  relief.  Examples  of  Italian 
cameos  are  those  found  on  the  books  once  belong- 
ing to  the  library  of  Demetrio  Canevari ;  the  sub- 
ject of  the  central  oval  stamp,  which  is  in  gold, 
silver,  and  colors,  being  invariably  Apollo  driving 
his  chariot  over  the  waves. 


The  Eves. 


CHAPTER  III 

MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS — MODERN  BINDINGS 

rriHE  Eves  were  a  family  of  binders  who  worked  for 
-*-  the  kings  of  France  from  about  1578  to  1631. 
Nicholas,  the  first,  is  said  to  have  bound  books 
about  1565,  for  the  famous  mistress  of  Hemy  II., 
Diane  de  Poitiers,  who  possessed  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  bindings  ever  produced.  In  the  Eve  style 
of  work  the  compartments  of  the  geometrical 
designs  are  surrounded  by  scrolls  or  spirals  and 
branches  of  palm  and  olive.  In  their  earlier 
work  the  designs  were  graceful,  but  the  com- 
partments were  not  filled  in;  after  a  time  their 
binding  became  very  elaborate,  and  they  finally 
abandoned  the  geometrical  designs  altogether, 
using  only  the  wreaths  and  palm  branches.  The 
name  fanfare  was  afterwards  given  to  this  flour- 
ishing style  of  ornament. 

The  bindings  of   Oxford   and   Cambridge  Uni- 

Oxford  and  .     .  .  ,  « 

Cambridge      versities  werc  distinguished  for  superior  workman- 

UuiversUies.  °  '■  _ 

ship,  although  they  were  not  noticeably  artistic. 
(200) 


MEDIEVAL  BINDINGS  201 

The  materials  adopted  by  Sir  Thomas  Bodley  for 
the  Oxford  bindings  were  leather,  veUum,  and 
occasionally  velvet.  The  later  bindings  of  these 
universities  are  marked  by  improved  taste  and  are 
prized  by  some  modern  collectors. 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  binders 
continued  to  beat  their  books  on  a  stone  with  a  and  sixteenth 

CGiituriGs 

wooden  hammer,  to  give  them  the  proper  solidity. 
They  often  made  use  of  a  slip  of  parchment  around 
the  end-papers  and  the  first  and  last  sheets,  to 
protect  the  backs  from  injury  and  to  strengthen 
the  joint.  Parchment  or  stout  paper  was  used  to 
strengthen  the  last  leaf,  as  the  inside  lining  of  the 
boards,  and  sometimes  for  the  entire  binding  of 
ordinary  books;  it  is  owing  to  this  practice 
that,  in  later  times,  fragments  of  early  manuscripts, 
before  unknown,  have  been  discovered;  but  many 
valuable  works,  thus  applied  to  binding  purposes, 
must  have  entirely  disappeared.  The  sheets  were 
sewed  on  strong  shps  of  white  leather,  placed 
equally  distant  from  each  other,  which  form 
the  four,  five,  or  six  raised  cords  or  bands  seen 
on  the  backs  of  voliunes  encased  in  these 
early  bindings.  In  these  two  centuries  board 
covers  of  wood  were  still  used,  generally  of 
oak    or    beech,  but    thinner  than  those  of    the 


202         SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  BINDINGS 

preceding  period.  Three  kinds  of  commercial 
bindings  were  known, — board,  leather,  and  parch- 
ment. For  the  use  of  the  noble  and  the  rich, 
books  were  bound  in  more  costly  materials;  for 
volumes  of  special  interest  or  value,  velvet  was 
generally  employed. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  wooden  boards  were 

century.  finally  discarded  for  pads  of  paper  and  sheets  of 

cardboard.  In  this  century  the  "plough,"  used 
to  cut  the  leaves  even,  made  its  appearance. 
«*'  In  the  sixteenth  century  bookbinding  attained 
its  highest  degree  of  development  on  the  Conti- 
nent. For  artistic  taste  and  thoroughness  of  work- 
manship, it  has  never  since  been  equaled.  Beau- 
tiful covers  were  produced  not  only  in  Italy, 
Germany,  and  France,  but  in  Spain  and  even  in 
the  Slavonic  provinces  of  the  East. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  French  pro- 
duced many  fine  bindings;  in  the  eighteenth 
century  their  work  retrograded.  In  Italy,  during 
this  period,  the  art  was  rapidly  declining. 

A  famous  collector,  whose  labors  extended  into 

guste^de  "'  the  seventeenth  century,  was  Jacques  Auguste  de 
Thou  (1553-1617),  who  became  keeper  of  the 
royal  library  under  Henry  IV.  of  France.  His 
bindings  were  generally  plain  and  substantial,  the 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  BINDINGS        203 

only  ornament  being  a  gold  armorial  stamp  in  the 
centre;  for  choice  volumes  he  used  an  elaborate 
gold  ornament  in  the  fanfare  style.  His  materials 
were  red,  green,  and  lemon  morocco,  fawn-colored 
calf,  and  white  vellum. 

The  National  Library  of  Paris  possesses  the 
earliest  known  example  of  a  doublure,  or  inside 
lining  of  the  cover  of  a  book;  it  is  an  Italian 
binding  of  1550.  Florimond  Badier,  one  of  the 
binders  of  Louis  XIV.,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
jBrst  to  make  any  extensive  use  of  this  innova- 
tion. Mace  Ruette,  who  bound  books  for  Louis 
XIII.  between  1606  and  1638,  is  credited  with  the 
introduction  into  France  of  yellow  marbled  moroc- 
co and  marbled  paper.  This  marbled  paper  was 
sometimes  used  for  the  inner  leaves  of  books,  and 
almost  universally  for  the  doublures.  The  inside 
lining,  as  well  as  the  cover,  of  fine  volumes  is 
often  of  leather,  which  is  artistically  decorated. 

Le  Gascon  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  foremost  of 
bookbinders.  M.  Marius-Michel  thinks  he  may 
have  been  a  pupil  or  an  apprentice  of  the  binders 
who  worked  for  De  Thou.  He  made  use  of  grace- 
ful curved  lines,  formed  by  the  repetition  of 
coimtless  gold  dots  or  points,  which  produced  a 
brilliant  effect  on  the  scarlet   morocco   ground. 


Boublures. 


Le  Gascon. 


204 


MODERN  BINDINGS 


Seventeenth 
century- 
England. 


Eighteenth 
century- 
France. 


In  England,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  little 
encouragement  could  be  given  to  the  art  because 
of  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  country,  owing 
to  the  civil  wars  of  Charles  I.,  tlie  influence  of  the 
Puritans,  and  the  profligacy  of  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.,  whereby  the  patronage  of  the  Avealthy  was 
removed.  Oaken  boards  were  discarded,  a  thick 
but  flimsy  pasteboard  being  now  used  for  covers; 
the  bands  of  hempen  cord  were  drawn  through 
holes  pierced  through  the  boards.  The  process 
of  beating  books  to  produce  solidity  was  still 
continued,  and  the  sewing  and  backing  were  well 
done. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  bookbinding  flourished 
in  France,  and  we  find  a  long  array  of  names  of 
those  who  practised  the  art.  Among  the  distin- 
guished binders  were  Padeloup,  Derome,  Le  Mon- 
nier,  Boyet,  Du  Seuil,  Douceur,  Anguerrand,  and 
Dubuisson.  The  first  two  names  represent  each 
a  dynasty;  it  is  said  that  there  were  twelve  Pade- 
loups  and  fourteen  Deromes,  all  booksellers  and 
bookbinders.  The  most  noted  were  Nicholas  and 
Antoine  Michel  Padeloup  and  James  Anthony 
Derome. 

During  the  time  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
First  Republic,  the  art  naturally  sank  to   a  low 


MODERN  BINDINGS  205 

ebb.  This  period  of  degradation  lasted  until 
about  1830,  when  binders  began  to  be  inspired  with 
higher  ideals.  Modern  French  work  is  characterized 
by  perfect  forwarding  and  finishing,  but  is  lacking 
in  originality  of  design.  Among  the  names  of 
celebrated  modern  binders  may  be  mentioned 
Trautz,  Bauzonnet,  Purgold,  Cap6,  Duru,  Lortic, 
Hardy-Meunil,  Belz-Niedree,  Thibaron,  Thouvenin, 
Cuzin,  Marius-Michel,  and  Leon  Gruel;  the  latter 
tv.'o  have  written  valuable  works  upon  the  history 
of  bookbinding  in  France. 

In    the    beginning    of    the    eighteenth  century 
large   and  valuable  libraries  began  to  be  estab-  Eighteenth 

century — 

lished  in  England.  As  a  consequence  of  the  England, 
increased  demand  for  books,  more  attention  was 
given  to  their  bindings.  Morocco,  russia,  and 
brown  calf  were  the  chief  materials  used.  The 
improvements  seem  to  have  been  made  more  in 
the  forwarding  than  in  the  finishing  of  the  work. 
The  subjects  of  the  ornamentation  of  the  covers 
frequently  bore  no  relation  whatever  to  the  con- 
tents of  the  volume,  and  the  tools  were  of  the 
poorest  design,  without  an  attempt  at  convention- 
ality. 

The  most  distinguished  collector  of  this  century 

^  ■^     Robert  Har- 

was  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  whose  library,  ley. 


206  MODERN  BINDINGS 

known  as  the  Harleian  Collection,  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  books  are  bound  chiefly  in 
red  morocco,  with  a  broad  border  of  gold  round  the 
sides,  some  having  also  a  centre  ornament. 

The  sawn  back  is  considered  to  have  been  in- 
bac\!^^^^^  Produced  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  there  is  evidence  of  the  use  of  something  of 
this  kind  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. By  this  method  the  bands  are  let  into 
a  groove  in  the  backs  of  the  sheets,  and  no 
projecting  cords  are  seen,  but  the  back  is  not 
flexible.  It  is  not  known  just  where  this  pro- 
cess was  first  employed,  but  the  idea  seems  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  Dutch  bindings,  the 
method  was  reluctantly  adopted  by  the  French 
and  English  binders.  Raised  cords  were  soon 
relegated  to  school-books.  From  the  time  of  the 
introduction  of  the  sawn  back  until  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  calf-gilt  was  generally 
employed  for  binding.  The  covers  usually  con- 
formed to  one  pattern,  having  marbled  sides,  broAvn 
backs,  and  colored  lettering-pieces.  The  open 
or  hollow  back  was  rarely  used,  and  the  back  was 
made  sufficiently  stiff  to  prevent  the  leather  from 
wrinkling  when  the  book  was  opened. 

Towards    the    close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 


MODERN  BINDINGS  207 

bindings  assumed  an  entirely  different  appearance, 
owing  to  the  efforts  of  Roger  Payne.  He  was  Roger  Payne, 
the  first  binder  w^ho  attempted  to  harmonize 
the  decoration  with  the  character  of  the  vol- 
umes themselves.  Payne  worked  upon  straight- 
grained  morocco,  stained  dark  blue  or  bright  red, 
and  also  upon  russia  leather;  his  favorite  color 
seems  to  have  been  olive.  His  ornaments  were 
chaste,  beautiful,  and  classical.  So  far  as  possible, 
Payne  did  all  the  various  processes  of  the  work 
with  his  own  hands.  Unfortunately  he  was  in- 
temperate, but  was  given  constant  employment 
by  the  noble  and  the  wealthy.  Pa3'ne's  best  work 
went  to  the  Spencer  Library.  His  superior  work- 
manship proved  a  stimulus  to  the  trade,  and 
introduced  a  chastened  style  of  ornamentation 
among  the  binders  of  London. 

Charles  Lewis,  who  ranks  among  the  best  of 
English  binders,  w^as  at  the  head  of  his  profession  charies 
between  1802  and  1840.  Dr.  Dibdin  thus  speaks 
of  him:  ''The  particular  talent  of  Lewis  consists 
in  uniting  the  taste  of  Roger  Payne  with  a  freedom 
of  forwarding  and  squareness  of  finishing  pecu- 
liarly his  own.  His  books  appear  to  move  on 
silken  hinges." 

Francis  Bedford,  born  in  London  in  1800,  was 


208 


MODERN  BINDINGS 


considered  the  greatest  binder  of  his  time.     His 
Francis  Bed-    bindings  are  substantial  and   sober,  but   possess 
httle  origmahty  or  artistic  merit. 

About  1830  the  materials  used  in  bindings  of 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  began  to  be 
revived.  Velvet  and  silk  became  fashionable  for 
drawing-room  table  books.  Modern  bindings  of 
velvet  were  adopted  for  many  large  libraries,  among 
which  were  the  collection  of  King  George  III. 
and  the  libraries  of  Earl  Spencer,  York  Minster, 
and  Ripon  Cathedral. 

Some    peculiarities    in    bookbindings    deserve 
Peculiarities    Special  notice.     In  some  instances  the  material  of 

in  bindings.  ,.,.,, 

the  cover  was  made  to  coincide  with  the  nature 
of  the  book.  Foxe's  historical  work  was  bound 
in  fox's  skin,  and  "Tuberville  on  Hunting,'' 
in  deerskin,  the  cover  being  ornamented  vrith  a 
stag  in  silver.  Eccentricities  were  carried  even 
to  the  use  of  human  leather  for  binding.  It  is 
said  that  M.  Camille  Flammarion,  the  great 
French  astronomer,  had  a  volume  bound  in  the 
skin  of  a  countess  whose  white  shoulders  he  once 
admired,  and  who,  on  djdng,  made  him  the  strange 
bequest  of  her  integument,  to  be  used  as  a  cover 
for  his  work  describing  the  world  of  stars.  There 
are  a  number  of  other  books  in  existence,  said  to 


MODERN  BINDINGS  209 

be  encased  in  this  "human  covering,"  so  repug- 
nant to  every  person  of  refined  taste. 

In  England  bookbinding  has  many  patrons  who 
have  contributed  much  to  the  improvement  of  the 
art,  and  the  number  of  master  binders  in  London 
has,  in  consequence,  greatly  increased.  Much  of 
the  success  is  due  to  the  improvements  in  the 
machinery  used,  among  which  are  the  hydraulic  mentsin 

machinery. 

press,  the  rolling-machine,  the  arming-  or  em- 
bossing-press, and  numerous  apphances  heated  by 
gas  or  propelled  by  steam. 

Robert  Leighton  was  the  first  to  adopt  nearly  all 
the  machinery  now  employed  in  large  binderies.  Leighton. 
He  invented  the  backing-  and  trimming-machines, 
and  was  the  first  to  employ  aluminium  and  black 
and  colored  inks  for  cloth  covers;  he  also  intro- 
duced steam-power  for  embossing  in  gold.  Many 
improvements  to  facilitate  the  work  of  binding 
have  since  been  invented. 


On  the  Thames,  between  Chelsea  and  Chiswick, 
in  a  modest  two-and-a-half-story  house,  is  situated  btadery%^^ 
the  famous  Doves  Bindery  of  Mr.  Cobden-Sander- 
son. 

Mr.  Cobden-Sanderson  is  the  most  distinguished 

°  Mr.  Cobden- 

binder  of  his  time.     Beheving  handicraft  to  be  the  Sanderson. 
14 


210  3I0DEBN  BINDINGS 

salvation  of  humanity  and  that  a  man  should 
toil  with  his  hands,  he  abandoned  the  bar,  which 
he  had  chosen  as  his  profession,  and  studied  the 
trade  of  bookbinding.  At  first  he  did  all  the 
work  with  his  own  hands,  the  only  aid  being  given 
by  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Richard  Gobden, 
who  took  charge  of  the  sewing.  He  designs  his 
own  tools,  which  are  cut  especially  for  his  use. 

This  master  binder  does  not  care  to  produce 
many  covers,  but  it  is  needless  to  say  that  his 
best  effort  goes  to  each.  Each  design  is  thought 
out  for  the  book  itself,  the  decorative  scheme 
being  at  times  suggested  by  some  representative 
passage  of  the  author.  Believing  that  "beauty 
is  the  aim  of  decoration,  and  not  illustration  or 
the  expression  of  ideas,"  his  bindings  are  decora- 
tive in  character  and  not  illustrative.  Although 
the  scheme  of  ornamentation  may  have  been 
suggested  by  some  passage  in  the  book,  we  find 
on  his  covers  no  childish  symbolism  or  mere  label- 
ing, which  have  no  decorative  value.  His  bind- 
ings are  generally  ornamented  with  conventional- 
ized flowers  which  occur  in  geometrical  precision. 
He  studied  the  methods  of  Le  Gascon,  and  pro- 
bably from  him  derived  the  idea  of  imparting 
brillianc}'  to  his  designs  by  the  free  use  of  gold 


COUDE.N-SANDEllSON     BINDING. 

[From  "  Bookbindings  Old  and  New,"'  Brander  Matthews.    By 
liurniissiou  of  Mr.  Matthews  and  the  Macmillan  Comvany.] 


MODERN  BINDINGS  211 


pointS;  stars,   single    leaves,    and    like    ornamen- 
tation. 

The  work  of  the  Doves  Bindery  is  all  done  by 
hand  on  leather  tooled  in  gold.  Every  detail  is 
carefully  thought  out  and  executed  in  the  most 
painstaking  manner;  nothing  is  slighted  or  hurried 
over.  The  decoration  is  put  on,  not  by  the  single 
impression  of  a  stamp,  but  is  built  up  step  by  step; 
the  books,  therefore,  bear  the  imj^ress  of  mind  and 
not  of  mechanism.  Mr.  Cobden-Sanderson  no 
longer  himself  binds,  but  still  designs;  his  assist- 
ants attend  to  the  execution  of  the  designs  and 
the  actual  binding. 


CHAPTER  IV 

COMMERCIAL    BINDINGS 

A  LTHOUGH  in  edition  work,  many  volumes 
"^  have  been  decorated  without  regard  to  the 
principles  of  art,  there  has  been  an  improvement 
in  this  direction  of  late  years,  and  the  designs 
occasionally  attain  a  high  degree  of  excellence. 
There  must  always  be  a  difference  between 
what  is  made  by  hand  and  what  is  produced 
by  a  machine ;  but  a  book-cover  stamped  by  steam 
becomes  pleasing  to  the  cultivated  taste  when  it 
bears  the  impress  of  a  design  which  is  truly 
artistic.  Cloth  binding,  although  originating  in 
Great  Britain,  has  been  carried  to  much  greater 
mechanical  excellence  by  machines  invented  or 
improved  in  the  United  States. 

The  distinction  between  special  bindings  and 
commercial  or  trade  bindings  arose  soon  after  the 
introduction  of  the  printing-press.  The  early 
printers  were  binders  as  well  as  publishers;  their 
books  which  have  come  down  to  us  attest  to  the 
thoroughness  with  which  they  did  their  work. 
When  every  touch  of  gold  on  a  cover  had  to  be 
(212) 


C03nfERCIAL  BINDINGS  213 


The  roulette. 


made  by  the  separate  impression  of  a  tool,  the 
process  was  necessarily  laborious  and  expensive; 
consequently,  very  early  in  the  history  of  the  art 
attempts  were  made  to  simplify  the  work  of  the 
decorator. 

Among  the  first  tools  adopted  was  the  roulette, 
or  roll.  This  contained  a  complete  pattern  en- 
graved on  the  circumference  of  a  wheel,  the  pat- 
tern reproducing  itself  as  the  wheel  was  rolled 
across  the  cover.  The  roulette  was  used  for  borders 
and  frameworks. 

The  next  device  was  the  combination  of  engraved 
blocks  to  form  a  pattern  in  some  degree  appropriate  combination 
to  the  contents  of  the  volume.  The  binder  kept  blocks. 
in  stock  a  variety  of  blocks  of  different  sizes  and 
subjects,  sometimes  related  in  pairs  or  in  sets  of 
fours;  these  he  rearranged  to  form  corners,  centre- 
pieces, and  panels,  to  suit  his  books  as  they  were 
successively  issued.  He  was  obHged,  however,  at 
times  to  make  use  of  the  roulette  and  of  hand- 
work. 

In  order  to  dispense  altogether  with  handwork, 
and  thus  quicken  the   production  of  books,  one  The  engraved 
design  was  engraved  for  the  whole  side  of  a  vol- 
ume, and  was  stamped  on  the  cover  at  a  single 
stroke  of  the  press.      The  Tory  plate  was  com- 


214  COMMERCIAL  BINDINGS 

plete  in  itself,  but  some  plaques  still  left  details  to 
be  filled  in  by  the  hand  of  the  workman. 

The  roulette,  the  combination  of  blocks,  and  the 
engraved  plate,  were  employed  simultaneously  for 
several  centuries. 

The  early  commercial  binding  was  an  attempt 
to  reproduce  artistic  work  done  entirely  by  hand; 
modern  commercial  binding  is  no  longer  a  mere 
imitation  of  handwork  and  is  developing  along  its 
own  lines. 

Half-binding  had  its  origin  in  Germany,  and  is 
Half-binding  a  money-saving  device.  In  this  method  leather  is 
ciuarter  bind-  used  only  for  the  back,  with  its  necessary  hinge, 

ing. 

and  the  corners  of  the  cover;  a  very  deep  back 
of  leather  with  larger  corners  is  termed  three- 
cjuarter  binding. 

The  English  binders  carried  this  economy  still 
farther,  and,  dispensing  altogether  with  the 
leather,  covered  with  paper  both  the  sides  and  the 
backs  of  their  books.  A  volume  thus  sheathed  in 
boards  was  not  desirable,  as  the  back  was  liable  to 
crack  and  come  off  and  the  sides  to  break  away. 
This  method  proving  unsatisfactory^  plain  glazed 
calico  was  substituted  for  the  paper;  this  was 
the  beginning  of  cloth  binding.  At  first  there 
was  no  attempt  at  decoration;  the  title  was  still 


C03IMERCIAL  BINDINGS  215 

printed  on  a  white  paper  label,  which  Avas  pasted 
on  the  back  of  the  book. 

Cloth  binding  arose  in  England,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  introduced  by  Archibald  Leighton  in  PJ°*^  ^^^<^- 
1822.  At  first  the  binding  had  a  "smooth- 
washed"  surface,  but  about  1831  or  1832  embossed 
cloth  came  into  use.  The  first  volume  of  "Lord 
Byron's  Life  and  Works,"  pubHshed  in  1832,  was 
bound  in  green  cloth,  and  had  a  green  paper  label 
on  the  back,  with  the  title  and  coronet  printed 
on  it  in  gold.  \Vhen,  in  the  same  year,  the  second 
volume  appeared,  the  title  and  coronet  were 
stamped  in  gold  upon  the  cloth,  the  label  being 
omitted  altogether.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the 
first  work  issued  with  the  title  printed  in  gold 
directly  on  the  cloth.  It  is  thought,  however,  that 
some  volumes  of  a  series  of  "Oxford  English 
Classics"  mav  have  been  so  stamped  before  this 
"  Byron.". 

Stamping,  at  first,  must  have  been  done  by  a 
hand-press,  or  an  "arming-press,"  as  it  was  called.  ^^^Innm- 
The  cloth  was  dyed  to  any  desired  color,  and  was  c^^^^ry. 
run  through  rollers  to  give  it  the  grain  or  texture 
that  w^as  w^anted.  Steam  was  soon  used  instead 
of  foot-power,  and  other  improvements  enabled 
the  binder  to  imprint  the  pattern  on  the  cover 


216 


C0M3IEBCIAL  BINDINGS 


in  as  man}''  colors  as  could  be  employed  to  pro- 
duce good  work.  Binding  is  now  done  with  great 
speed;  a  modern  bindery  can  turn  out  several 
thousand  copies  of  a  cover  in  twenty-four  hours. 

In  artistic  handwork  the  leather  case  is  attached 
to  the  book,  after  which  the  ornamentation  is 
added.  In  cloth  binding,  or  edition  work,  the 
cover  is  made  and  decorated  before  it  is  afhxed 
to  the  volume.  In  edition  w^ork  the  process  is 
wholly  mechanical,  with  the  exception  of  the  de- 
signing of  the  stamp. 

Although  countless  numbers  of  volimies  have 
been  clothed  in  undesirable  covers,  still  much  ma- 
chine binding  has  been  done  which  is  chaste  and 


Commercial 
bindings  in 
the  United 

GreatBritain.  beautiful.  In  the  decoration  of  commercial  bind- 
ings the  United  States  seems  to  smpass  Great 
Britain.  For  the  higher  class  of  books,  the  Eng- 
lish still  regard  the  cloth  cover  as  a  mere  tem- 
porary case^  each  collector  binding  his  books 
according  to  his  own  taste.  In  America,  on  the 
contrary,  the  cloth  cover  is  more  generally  retained, 
and  more  attention  is  therefore  given  to  the  taste- 
ful decoration  of  bindings.     Among  distinguished 

American       American  binders  may  be  mentioned  Mr.  William 

biiidGrs 

Matthews,  the  Bradstreets,  Mr.  Stikeman,  and  Mr. 
Otto  Zahn. 


CHAPTER  V 

FORWARDING 

^HE  various  processes  employed  in  the  binding 
-*-  of  a  book  are  known  by  the  general  term  of 
forwarding.  The  decoration  of  the  cover  is  called 
the  finishing.  In  artistic  leather  binding,  the 
book  is  covered  and  embeUished  by  hand,  each 
volimie  being  treated  individually.  The  method 
outlined  in  the  following  paragraphs  is  that  em- 
ployed in  cloth  binding,  or  edition  work. 

When  the  flat,  dry  sheets  arrive  from  the  printer, 
they  are  first  folded  by  machinery,  one  fold  giving  p^j^j^ 
four  pages,  two  folds  eight  pages,  three  folds  sixteen 
pages,  and  four  folds  thirty- two  pages.  Folding 
is  seldom  carried  farther  than  this,  as  the  constant 
doubling  of  the  paper  causes  the  sheets  to  be  of 
unequal  size. 

On  the  gathering  table,  the  sheets  are  arranged 
in  piles,  in  the  order  of  the  signatures,  which  are  Gathering. 
the  figures  or  letters  found  at  the  foot  of  the  first 
page  of  each  sheet  or  section  of  the  book.  The 
girl  who  gathers  begins  at  the  last  pile,  and  placing 
a  sheet  on  her  left  arm,  takes  in  due  order  one 
(217) 


218 


FORWARDING 


Collating. 


Pressing. 


Preparation 
for  semng. 


sheet  from  each  pile  until  she  has  formed  one 
complete  book.  By  another  method,  the  girls  sit 
around  a  revolving  table,  and  as  the  piles  pass, 
each  girl  takes  one  sheet  from  each  -pile.  The  book 
is  then  collated,  or  examined,  to  see  that  only  the 
proper  sheets  have  been  taken  and  that  none  have 
been  misplaced.  Great  care  is  required  in  collating 
books  with  insets,  such  as  plates,  maps,  or  a  part 
of  a  sheet  inserted  when  the  whole  sheet  has  been 
divided  into  multiples  of  threes,  as  in  twelves, 
eighteens,  and  twenty-fours. 

Solidity  was  formerly  given  to  books  by  beating 
them  with  a  hammer  on  a  stone  or  piece  of  iron; 
they  are  now  rendered  compact  by  the  use  of  the 
hydraulic  press  or  the  signature  press.  When 
screwed  down  tightly,  a  volume  is  sometimes 
reduced  to  one-half  its  original  size. 

The  next  step  is  to  prepare  the  book  for  sewing. 
If  the  sawn  back  is  to  be  employed,  grooves  are 
made  in  the  backs  of  the  sheets.  In  flexible  binding 
the  cords  are  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  sheets;  in 
the  sawn  back  they  are  sunk  into  the  grooves,  and 
the  book,  consequently,  will  not  be  entirely  flat 
when  opened.  The  back  is  generally  marked  off 
by  a  pencil  into  six  parts  which  are  equal,  with 
the  exception  of  the  lowest;  this  is  made  a  little 


FORWARDING  219 


longer  than  the  others,  because  if  it  were  of  the 
same  length,  an  optical  delusion  would  cause  it  to 
appear  shorter.  The  depth  of  the  groove  and  the 
thickness  of  the  cords  depend  upon  the  size  of  the 
book ;  if  the  cords  are  too  large  the  book  will  not 
open  well.     The  sawing  is  done  by  a  machine. 

A  sewing-press  is  used  to  attach  the  sheets  to 
the  bands  or  cords.  The  sewer  places  the  back  sewing, 
edge  of  the  sheet  in  contact  with  the  cords,  opens 
the  sheet  in  the  middle,  and  a  needle  and  thread 
passing  to  and  fro  sews  it  to  the  cords.  The  thread 
passes  twice  as  many  times  through  the  back  of 
each  sheet  as  there  are  cords,  in  order  to  twist  the 
thread  around  each  cord  and  to  unite  the  cords 
and  the  sheet.  The  threads  are  all  fastened  to 
the  cords  and  to  each  other.  The  stitch  by  which 
the  thread  passes  from  one  sheet  to  another  is 
known  as ''  kettle-stitch." 

After  the  end  papers,  or  the  papers  which  are  to  -p^imj^jy 
form  the  inside  of  the  cover,  are  attached,  the  book 
is  passed  through  the  trimming-machine,  to  make 
the  edges  true.  Many  books  are  now  left  with 
uncut  edges;  in  others  the  sheets  are  trimmed  only 
at  the  top. 

The  backs  are  then  glued.     The  glue  holds  the  Gjuing, 
sections  together,  increases  the  strength  of  the 


220 


FORWARDING 


Rounding. 


Backing. 


The  hollow 
back. 


volume,  and  keeps  the  back  true  during  the  pro- 
cesses of  rounding  and  backing.  The  book,  placed 
between  two  pieces  of  binders'  board,  is  put  into 
a  press,  with  the  back  exposed ;  hot  glue  is  applied 
to  the  back  with  a  brush.  The  volume  is  then 
left  to  dry,  no  artificial  heat  being  used. 

Rounding  is  the  next  operation.  The  back  is 
made  convex,  the  front  edges  concave,  the  curve  of 
the  front  corresponding  exactly  with  that  of  the 
back.  To  round  a  book,  it  is  hammered,  and  is 
changed  from  one  side  to  the  other  until  it  has 
acquired  the  proper  form.  Books  made  with  a 
fiat  back  have  a  tendency  to  spring  forward. 

A  thin  bevel-edged  board  is  laid  on  each  side  of 
the  volume,  parallel  with  the  edge  of  the  back. 
The  book  is  then  put  into  the  backing-machine, 
and  receives  the  two  ledges  against  which  the  sides 
of  the  case  are  to  rest. 

To  give  a  book  a  hollow  back,  a  double  layer  of 
paper  or  cloth  is  inserted  between  the  back  of  the 
cover  and  the  back  of  the  sheets,  the  outer  layer 
being  glued  to  the  cover,  the  inner  layer  to  the 
back  of  the  sheets.  As  these  layers  are  connected 
only  at  their  edges,  they  form  a  hollow  when  the 
book  is  opened. 

To  strengthen  the  cover  of  a  volume  and  also  to 


FORWARDING  221 


give  it  a  neat  appearance,  a  headband  is  placed  at  The  head- 
the  top  of  the  back  of  the  book.     This  may  be  of 
silk  or  cotton  cord,  or  a  strip  of  vellum  or  paste- 
board.   A  similar  band  is  often  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  volume. 

When  books  are  to  be  either  whole  or  half  bound, 
that  is  when  the  outer  surfaces  are  to  be  entirely  whole  Wna- 
covered  or  partly  covered  with  leather,  the  boards 
are  first  attached  to  the  book  and  the  covers  are 
put  on  afterwards.  In  cloth  binding,  or  edition 
work,  the  boards  are  covered  before  they  are  added  f^g^^  ^^^^' 
to  the  volume.  The  cloth  is  a  special  kind  of 
cotton,  woven  for  the  use  of  bookbinders.  By 
binders,  the  pasteboards  which  form  the  sides  are 
known  as  the  boards,  the  leather  or  cloth  as  the 
cover,  and  the  two  together  as  the  case. 

In  cloth  binding,  after  the  headband  is  attached 
and  the  lining  paper  put  on  the  back,  the  case  is  Fasteniug 
pasted  to  the  end  papers  placed  at  the  begmmng  tuecase. 
and  end  of  the  volume.  In  leather  binding,  either 
whole,  half,  or  three-quarter,  the  cords  or  strings 
which  are  left  to  hang  loose  a  little  distance  be- 
yond the  sides  of  the  volume,  are  scraped  thin 
and  passed  through  holes  pierced  through  the 
boards,  and  are  fastened  to  the  inner  surface  of 
the  boards. 


222 


FORWARDING 


Drying. 


Case- making. 


Stamping. 


After  the  books  are  attached  to  the  cases,  they 
are  laid  in  the  press  and  left  to  dry.  This  requires 
from  eight  to  ten  hours.  When  dr}'-,  they  are  taken 
out,  examined,  and  wrapped. 

In  case-making,  the  boards  are  first  cut  a  little 
larger  than  the  size  of  the  sheets;  the  cloth  is  cut 
the  proper  size,  somewhat  larger  than  the  boards, 
sufficient  space  being  left  between  the  boards  to 
allow  for  the  thickness  of  the  book.  Glue  is  apphed 
to  the  inner  surface  of  the  cloth,  which  is  turned 
over  the  edges  of  the  boards ;  the  case  is  then  run 
through  rubber  rollers  to  make  it  smooth.  To 
stamp  the  case,  it  is  first  sized,  if  this  is  neces- 
sary, after  which  gold-leaf  is  laid  upon  it.  A 
workman,  known  as  a  stamper,  feeds  the  cases  into 
the  embossing-press,  which  contains  the  die  heated 
with  Hve  steam-heat.  After  the  impression  has 
been  thus  embossed,  the  loose  gold  is  cleaned  off, 
leaving  the  design  in  gold  upon  the  case.  Printing- 
ink  is  also  used  for  stamping  covers,  the  impression 
being  given  by  a  powerful  steam  job-press. 

To  decorate  leather-bound  books  with  lines  of 
gold-tooling,  the  leather  is  first  moistened  with  a 
mixture  of  white  of  egg  and  water;  the  gold-leaf 
is  applied  with  a  hot  metal  wheel,  which  leaves  a 
line  of  gold  as  it  moves  across  the  cover. 


FORWARDING  223 


The  brass  stamp  containing  the  design  for  the 
side  of  the  book  sometimes  consists  of  only  one 
piece,  the  design  having  been  made  especially  for 
the  volume ;  but  a  pattern  is  often  made  up  by 
combining  a  number  of  small  dies. 

The  edges  of  books  are  sometimes  cut  smooth 
and  left  white.     They  are  also  finished  in  various  j-inighing 
ways,  either  by  coloring  or  by  gilding.     To  color  ^^^  ^'^^^^' 
the  edges,  a  brush  is  dipped  into  a  liquid  containing 
some  pigment,  such   as  Venetian  red  or  umber, 
and  is  struck  lightlj'  against  a   stick  held  over  cojo^ing 
the    unbound    volumes.      This   is   the  sprinkling 
process,  which  causes  a  shower  of  spots  to  fall  on 
the  edges  of  the  book.     An  even  tint  is  given  by 
dipping  a  sponge  into  the  liquid  and  passing  it 
lightly  over  the  edges.     Marbling  is  produced  by 
a  floating  mixture  of  colors  in  a  vat. 

In  gilding,  thin  gold-leaf  is  applied  to  the  edges  Gilding, 
before  the  case  is  fastened  to  the  volume.  The 
front  edges,  which  have  been  made  flat  instead  of 
concave,  are  first  scraped  perfectly  even ;  the}^  are 
then  moistened  with  a  mixture  of  white  of  egg  and 
water;  when  the  gold-leaf  touches  these  damp 
edges,  it  adheres  to  them  immediateh'.  The  mix- 
ture is  sometimes  made  of  black  lead  and  thin  glair. 
To  burnish  the  edges,  they  are  rubbed  with  a  hard 
stone. 


INDEX 


(225) 


INDEX 


Ada  Diurna,  52 
Adams,  Isaac,  77,  80 
Adams,  Joseph  A.,  110 
Adolph  II.,  29,  33 
Alcman,  135 
America,  pi-inting  in,  49 
American  Daily  Advertiser,  The,  54 
American    Type-Fomiders    Com- 
pany, 58 
American  Weekly  Mercury,  The,  53 
Anguerrand,  204 
Annunciation,  The,  19 
Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  The,  20 
Applegath,  Augustus,  81,  84 
Appleton  and  Company,  D.,  70 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  32 
Arnoux,  165 
Ars  Memorandi,  20 
Ars  Moriendi,  21,  24 
Assur-bani-pal,  7 
Assyria,  6,  125,  181 

Babylonia,  6,  125,  181 
Badier,  Florimond,  203 
Bark,  127 
Barth,  Henry,  64 
Bauzonnet,  205 
Bay  Psalm  Book,  50 
Bedford,  Francis,  207 
Belz-Ni^dr^e,  205 


Bensley,  78 

Berthelet,  or  Bartlet,  Thomas,  196 

Bibles: 

Bamberg,  or  Pfister's,  30 

Forty-two  Line,  30 

Mazarin,   or  Gutenberg's 
First,  30,  35 

Thirty-six  Line,  30 
Bihlia  Pauperum,  20,  22,  24 
Bindings.: 

Byzantine,  185 

cameo,  198 

cloth,  210,  212,  213 

commercial,  202,  210 

embroidered,  195 

enameled,  189 

half,  212 

leather,  188,  192 

monastic,  186 

peculiar,  208 

special,  191 

three-quarter,  212 

trade,  191 

velvet,  188,  202,  208 
Binny  and  Ronaldson,  58 
Blaeu,  William  Janson,  73 
Block-books,  17,  20 

editions  of,  22 
Blocks,  combination  of,  211 
Board  covers,  186,  201 


(227) 


228 


INDEX 


Bodleian  Library,  26,  145 

Catholicon,  The,  31 

Bodley,  Sir  Thomas,  201 

Caxton,  William,  47 

Body-height,  62 

bindings  of,  193 

Borrowdale  niine,  169 

Ceeilius  Hermias,  10 

Boston  Gazette,  The,  53 

Century  Magazine,  The,  printing 

Boston  News-Letter,  The,  53 

of,  87 

Boston  Public  Libraiy,  70 

color  plates  of,  102 

Boyet,  204 

Charlemagne,  11 

Bradford,  ^Yilliam,  50,  54,  145 

China,  paper  made  in,  142 

Bradstreets,  the,  214 

printing  in,  15 

Branding,  11 

Church,  Dr.  William,  66 

British  Museum,  10,  15,  134,  145, 

Cicero,  8 

195,  206 

Cincinnati  Times,  The,  86 

Brown    Paper    Company,    L.   L., 

Climaco,  San  Juan,  49 

158 

Cluny  Museum,  189 

Bruce,  David,  58,  108 

Clymer,  George,  74 

Bruce,  David,  jr.,  58 

Cobden-Sanderson,  Mr.,  215 

Bruce,  George,  58 

Codex,  137,  183 

Brussels  Print,  The,  19 

Cologne  Chronicle,  The,  35 

Bullock,  William,  86 

Constantine,  139 

Continuous  web,  the,  85 

Calamus,  128 

Corvinus,  Mathias,  190 

Calendar  of  U57,  31 

Cotton,  John,  51 

Calendar  or  Almanac  for  1460,  31 

Counter-punch,  59,  60 

Calenders,  154 

Count  of  Paris,  169 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  49 

Creusner,  Frederick,  42 

Cambridge    University,    printing 

Cromberger,  Juan,  49 

press  erected  for,  83 

Curtis  Publishing  Company,  54,  89 

bindings  of,  200 

Cuttle-fish,  liquid  of,  129,  171 

Canticum  Canticorum   {The  Can- 

Cuzin, 205 

ticles),  20 

Cylinder  machine,  153 

Cape,  205 

Caro,  173 

Daily  Courant,  The,  54 

Caslon,  William,  57 

Daily  Graphic,  The,  113 

INDEX 


229 


Dance  of  Death,  The,  21 

Dandy-roll,  152 

Daye,  Stephen,  50 

Deckles,  152 

Demosthenes,  135 

Derome,  204 

De  Thou,  Jacques  Augusta,  202, 
203 

De  Vinne,  Theodore  L.,  87 

De  Worde,  Wynkyn,  48 

Dialogue  between  Cato,  Hugo,  and 
Oliver,  31 

Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the  Philoso- 
phers, 48 

Dictionary  of  the  Latin  Language, 
44 

Didot,  the  Messrs.,  146 

Didot,  St.  Leger,  73 

Diether,  33 

Dioscorides,  171 

Diptychs,  184 

Doctrina  Christiana,  49 

Donatus,  ^lius,  25 

Donatus,  The,  21,  25 

Donkin,  Bryan,  165 

Douhlures,  203 

Douceur,  204 

Doves  Bmdery,  215 

Dubuisson,  204 

Dunster,  Henry,  50 

Duru,  205 
Du  Seuil,  204 
Dutartre,  81 


Egypt,  8,  125,  127,  131,  181 
Electricity,  printing  by,  90 
Electrotypes,  110 
Eliot,  John,  50,  52 

Indian  Bible  of,  50,  52 
Elzevir,  40,  43 

Endkrist,Der,  (The  Antichrist),  20 
England,  printuig  in,  48 
Escala  Espiritual  para  Llegar  al 

Cielo,  La,  49 
Eskimo,  123,  139 
Esparto,  147,  149 
Essonnes  paper-mills,  146 
Estienne,  40,  43 
Eumenes  II.,  138,  183 
Euripides,  135 
Eves,  the,  200 

Faber  family,  170 

Fanfare  style,  200 

Fang  ^li-Chih,  142 

Figure  del  Testaniento  Vecchio,  22 

FUms,  117 

Flammarion,  M.  Camille,  208 

Flat  book,  the,  183,  184 

Forwarding,  185,  217 

Foster,  John,  50 

Foucault,  26 

Fourdrinier    machine,    147,    151, 

153 
Fourdrinier,  the  Messrs.,  146 
FranJcfurtcr  Journal,  53 
Frank  Leslie's,  113 


230 


INDEX 


Franklin,   Benjamin,   53,   54,   55, 

Harper's  Weekly,  113 

58,  73,  74 

Harrison,  Mr.,  165 

Franklin,  Joaies,  53,  55 

Havana,  first  printing-press  in,  50 

Freeman^s  Oath,  The,  50 

Hebrews,  writing  materials  of  the. 

Frisket,  79 

127 

Fust,  John,  28,  32 

Hessels,  Mr.,  37 

Hill,  Sir  Rowland,  85 

Game  and  Playe  of  the  Chess,  The, 

Hoe,  Richard  M.,  83 

48 

Hoe,  Robert,  80 

Garamond,  Claude,  57 

Holbein,  Hans,  196 

Gazette  [de  France],  53 

Homer,  135 

Ged,  William,  108 

Horace,  14 

Genoux,  109 

Hj^erides,  135 

Gharibu  'l-Hadith,  145 

Gilpin,  Thomas,  147 

Illustrated  London  News,  The,  113 

Gleason's  Pictorial,  113 

Image  prints,  17,  18 

Glover,  Rev.  Joss  or  Jesse,  49 

Inks: 

Golden  Legend,  The,  48 

ancient,  129,  171 

Gordon,  George  P.,  76 

black,  171 

Gothic  letter,  35,  39 

care  of,  177 

Graffiti,  126 

colored,  173 

Greece,  and  Rome,  125,  136 

copying,  175 

Green,  Samuel,  52 

eosin,  173 

Greene,  Mr.  Friese,  90 

gold  and  silver  fluids,  129 

Grolier,  Jean,  196,  197 

indelible,  175 

Gruel,  Leon,  205 

India,  174 

Gutenberg,  John,  28,  35 

printing,  173 

later  works  of,  31 

sympathetic,  175 

tablets  to  memory  of,  32 

Inking-balls,  74 

Inking-rollers,  82 

Half-tone  plates,  114 

Ink-stains,  removing,  176 

Hardy-Meimil,  205 

Intaglio  printing,  45 

Harley,  Robert,  205 

Isocrates,  135 

Harper  and  Brothers,  70,  82 

Italic  letter,  38 

INDEX 


231 


Jagor,  Mr.  F.,  128 
Japan,  printing  in,  16 
Jenson,  Nicolas,  38 
John  of  Genoa,  31 
John  Rylands  Library,  19 
Johnson,  Marmaduke,  52 
Johnson,  William  M.,  58 
Junius,  36 
Justinian,  10 

Keimer,  Samuel,  54 
Kelmscott  Press,  39 
Koberger,  Anthony,  40,  42 
Koenig,  Friedrich,  78 
Koster  Legend,  The,  36 
Koster,  Lourens  Janszoon,  35 

Lead-pencils,  168 

Leaves,  128 

Le  Gascon,  203 

Leighton,  Archibald,  213 

Leighton,  Robert,  209 

Le  Monnier,  204 

Letter     of    Indulgence,     of     Pope 

Nicholas  V.,  29 
Letter  of  Indulgence  of  1461,  31 
Lewis,  Charles,  207 
Linen  cloth,  128 
Line-plates,  115 
Lithography,  4 
Lloyd's     Weekly    London    A^ews- 

paper,  86 
London  Daily  Universal  Register, 

The,  54 


London  Journal,  The,  110 
London   Times,   Tlie,   54,   78,  80, 

84,86 
Lortic,  205 

MacKellar,  Smiths,  and  Jordan,  58 
Mainz,  28,  30,  32,  33,  35,  38,  144 
Maioli,  Tommaso,  196,  197 
Manual  de  Adultos,  49 
Manuscripts    written    on    paper, 

145,  146 
Manutius,  Aldus,  38,  40,  196 
M apes' s  Magazine,  110 
Marinoni,  86 

Marius-Michel,  M.,  203,  205 
Martial,  14 

Mary  Engraving,  The,  19 
Maryland,  50 
Master-tj^pe,  60 
Materials    for  printing,    lack   of 

suitable,  12 
Matrices  made  by  electrotj'ping, 

61 
Matrix,  60,  61 
Matthew  of  Cracow,  32 
Matthews,  Mr.  William,  214 
Mazarin,  Cardinal,  191 
Mazarin  Library,  30,  191 
Medici  family,  190 
Mergenthaler   machine,  or   Lino- 

tj'pe,  67,  68 
Mexico,  printing  in,  49 
Milk  for  Babes,  51 
Mirabilia  Ronue,  21 


232 


INDEX 


Mirror  of  the  Clergy,  31 

New  York  Sun,  81 

Mitchel,  William  H.,  66 

New  York  Tribune,  87,  90 

Mitchell,  Gillott,  and  Mason,  166 

Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  29 

Montevideo,  50 

Nicholson,  William,  79 

Moors,  the,  144 

Nineveh,  library  at,  6 

Moret  or  iloretus,  John,  45 

Nuremberg  Chronicle,  The,  42 

Morris,  William,  39 

Mould,  60,  61 

Offset,  89, 101 

Moxon,  Joseph,  57 

Ojibwa  Indians,  128 
Ostraka,  126 

Napier,  79 

Oxford    University,    bindings   of, 

National  Librarj^  of  Paris,  26, 

31, 

200 

135,  203 

Nelson,  Thomas,  85 

Pablos,  Juan,  49 

New  England  Courant,  The,  53 

Padeloup,  204 

New  England  Primer,  The,  51 

Paper : 

Newspapers : 

classes  of,  159 

"coUecting,"97 

deckle-edged,  159 

color-printing,  97 

driers,  153 

consecutive  processes  in  print- 

laid, 156 

ing,  94 

loading,  154 

driers,  100 

loft-dried,  153 

early,  52 

machine-dried,  153 

folders,  automatic,  87 

names  of,  143 

insets,  97 

preparation  of  stock,  148 

late  news,  103 

shading,  155 

making  ready,  98 

sizing,  154,  158 

offset  sheet,  101 

staples,  147 

output  in  an  hour,  96 

surface-coating,  155 

overlay,  98 

water-marks,  152,  157 

plates  for,  117 

wove,  156 

register  of  the  colors,  100 

Paper-making,  bj^  hand,  156 

regulating  the  flow  of  ink, 

101 

bj'  machinery,  149 

New  York  Gazette,  The,  53 

Papyri,  discoveries  of,  135 

INDEX 


233 


Papj^rus^ 

Harris,  134 

manufacture      of       papyrus 
paper,  133 

names  of,  131 

paper,  132 

plant,  131 

Prisse,  135 

rolls,  134 
Parchment : 

kinds  of,  139 

preparation  of  skins,  140 

vegetable,  140 
Patrie,  La,  84 
Payne,  Roger,  207 
Peking  Gazette,  53 
Pennsylvania  Gazette,  The,  54 
Penny  Magazine,  113 
Pensl 

barrel,  165 

fountain,  167 

gold,  166 

metal,  164 

quill,  163 

reed,  128,  166 

steel,  165 
PergamTim,  138,  183 
Perry,  James,  165 
Peru,  printing  in,  49 
Philip  II.,  45,  191 
Photography,  printing  by,  92 
Pi  Shing,  15 
Pius  II.,  Pope,  33 


Plantin,  Christopher,  40,  44 
Plantin,  Mus6e,  46 
Platen,  72 
Plato,  135 
Playing-cards,  17 
Pliny,  124,  133,  138,  171 
Polyglot  Bible,  45 
Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  55 
Postboy,  The,  54 
Potsherds,  125 
Precious  stones,  185,  187 
Priestley,  Dr.,  165 
Printing-presses : 

Adams,  77,  80 

Blaeu, 73 

Bullock,  86 

Columbian,  74 

Cottrell,  88 

Cylinder,  77 

Donkin  and  Bacon,  82 

for  book-work,  90 

for  illustrated  work,  87 

Franklin,  74 

Gordon,  76 

Goss,  90 

Gutenberg,  72 

Hoe — Combination     Octuple 
Multi-color,  101 

Double-Supplement,  87 
Electrotype   Multi-color, 

98 
Electrotype  Rotary  Per- 
fecting, 90 


234 


INDEX 


Printing-presses — Continued. 
Hoe — Improved  Double  Quad- 
ruple Combination  Oc- 
tuple, 96 
Octuple,  87 
Quadruple,  87 
Sextuple,  87 

Single  large  cylinder,  80 
Web-perfecting,  86 
Job  or  Treadle,  75,  76 
Koenig,  79,  81 
Miehle,  89 
of  wood,  72 
Perfecting,  80 
Power,  75,  81 
Ruggles,  76 
Stanhope,  73 
Stop-cylinder,  81 
Treadwell,  76 
Type-revolving,  83 
Walter,  86 
Washington,  74 
Psalter  of  1457,  33 
Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  138 
Publick  Occurrences,  53 
Public  Ledger,  83 
Pugillaria,  182 
Punch,  59,  60 
Purgold,  205 

Quintilian,  8 

Recueil   des   Histoires  de    Troyes, 
47 


Reynes,  John,  194 

Ricardo,  Antonio,  49 

Robert,  Louis,  73,  146 

Rocks,  123 

Roger  of  Sicil^',  146 

Rolls,  Greek  and  Roman,  182 

Roman  letter,  38 

Rosenberg,  Frederick,  66 

Roulette,  211 

Ruette,  Mace,  203 

Rust,  Samuel,  74 

St.  Bridget,  19 

St.  Christopher,  18 

St.  Dorothea  and  St.  Alexis,  20 

St.  Jerome,  25 

St.  Nicolas  de  Tolentino,  19 

St.  Sebastian,  Martyrdom  of,  19 

Samarkand,  143,  145 

Sardanapalus,  7 

Saturday  Evening  Post,  The,  54 

Sauer,  Christopher,  58 

Sawn  back,  the,  206 

Schoeffer,  Peter,  33 

Scientific  American,  90 

Sepia,  176 

Skins  of  animals,  127 

Smith,  Peter,  74 

Sotheby, 21 

Speculum    Humanm   Salvationis, 

21 
Speech  of  Father  Abraham,  56 
Spencer  Library,  18,  207 


INDEX 


235 


Stamps;: 

Tooling,  195 

heraldic,  193 

Torj',  Geoffroy,  196 

metal,  9 

Tory  plate,  211 

panel,  193 

Trautz,  205 

pictorial,  194 

Treadwell,  Daniel,  76 

roll,  194 

Treatise  on  the  Celebration  of  the 

wooden,  9 

Mass,  A,  31 

Stanhope,  Earl  of,  73,  108 

Treatise  on  the  N'ccessily  of  Coun- 

Stephens of  London,  172 

cils,  A,  31 

Stereot3'pe  plates,  curved,  84 

Treatise     on     Reason    and     Con- 

Stereotyping, 108 

science,  A,  32 

papier-mach^  process,  109 

Ts'ai  Lun,  143 

plaster  process,  108 

Tympan,  79 

Stikeman,  Mr.,  214 

Tj'pe-casting,  by  hand,  63 

Stilus,  123,  125 

by  machinery,  58,  62 

Story  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  20 

Type-founding,  57 

Strasburg,  28,  35 

Type-metal,  of  what  made,  59 

Summary  of  the  Articles  of  Faith, 

Tj'pe-mould,  28 

32 

Typesetting,  by  hand,  65 

Super  calenders,  154 

by  machinery,  66 

Typography,  3,  4 

Tablets: 

invention  of,  27 

clay,  6,  125 

spread  of,  37 

leaden,  124,  183 

stone,  123,  127 

wax,  125,  182 

Van  der  Linde,  Dr.,  36 

wooden,  124 

Van  Eyck,  Jan,  13 

Tate,  144 

Vavassore,      Giovaiuii      Andreas, 

Theodoric,  11 

22 

Theophrastus,  131 

Vellum,  139 

Thibaron,  205 

Venice,     printing      in,      38,     40, 

Thouvenin,  205 

196 

Thucydides,  135 

Virginia  documents,  50 

236 

INDEX 

Watts,  John,  108 
Weekly  Newes,  53 
^Tiite,  Elihu,  58 
Williamson,  Peregrine, 
Wood-fibre,  148 
Wood-pulp,  148 

165 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  191 
Xylography,  3,  4 

Young  and  Delcambre,  66 

Zahn,  Mr.  Otto,  214 
Zell,  Ulrich,  37 

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